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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Dream on, Kids!




Staring at my sleeping six-year old, I think to myself, “how beautiful this little creature is”. And then a completely disjointed thought occurs. Why didn’t I become an actress? Why didn’t I pursue journalism? Or become a critic?

He has dreams. Dreams of becoming Spiderman. Somedays it’s Batman. There’s even been talk of Ben-10, whoever that is. But Spiderman is typically the superhero of choice.

I can't really say that I dreamt of becoming a banker. A doctor, a rock star, an actress! (I even wrote to the Love Boat when I was ten! They graciously sent me a rejection in the form of a postcard.) Now, I’m the retail manager of a community bank in a small town --"Senior Vice President of Retail" Julie McCoy, eat your heart out.

I love my husband dearly. I love my two children dearly. My job is fine.

His eyes are slightly open. His lashes are so long. Not quite as long as his sister’s. He has the same white eyelash as his father. It’s in the center of their right eyes. I rarely have a chance to watch my daughter sleep anymore. Her head is usually buried in the pillow.

How do you encourage children to always follow their dreams? How do you make sure they don’t always take the "safe route" and forsake their passion?

My son loves his sister. She is annoyed by him, but takes care of him. I love it when she calls him “Buddy”. I still love her little-girl laugh. She’s ten now. Why does she seem so much older?

Mom encouraged me to try out for a play in college. I never did. In high school, I surprisingly was selected to play the female lead in “Flowers for Algernon”. But I had to kiss the male lead. I kissed him on the cheek. My drama coach was not happy with me. I would like to play the supporting actress in a movie. That dream has passed, I think.

I brush his hair back with my hands. It calmed him as a baby. Being a mom is the best. There’s much more to me than pricing CD rates, going over schedules and listening to complaints.
I still dream too. Maybe of not being an actress, but I dream. Someday I will become a published author. Someday I'll make the bestseller list. Someday I'll be a guest on Oprah -- that would be the ultimate. Actually, I would love to be a guest...
Anyway, dream away little ones. Keep dreaming.