Tuesday, April 24, 2018

When I Grow Up I Want To Be...


When you were a child what did you want to be when you grew up? Maybe a famous actor. Or perhaps a pilot. Or a teacher. Maybe an olympian athlete. A firefighter. A scientist. A doctor. Rich.

There were unlimited choices ahead of us. I am certain your parents told you the same things our patrnts told us. You can be whatever you want to be as long as  you work hard and get good grades.

Getting good grades was easy. It is the one thing that comes easily to me. I never developed good study habits because  all I had to do was pay attention in class. I was not necessarily smarter than some of the others. I just have a knack for retaining information and being able to being it up when necessary.

Girls my age often wanted to be Annette or Hayley Mills. Or one of the Lennon Sisters. I suppose boys wanted to be Mickey Mantle or Davy Crockett.

Girls often dreamed about getting married. Planning a fairy tale wedding was the goal.

I really never cared about being married. A husband seemed like too much work. I did know that you needed a husband to have children.

What I always wanted to be was a mother.

Perhaps it is because I am the oldest. I helped with the younger children as happens in large families. I liked it.

So I dutifully was married before I began having children. I was so anxious to have babies but it took a couple of years before I did.

I will be telling you about my children in My Family eventually.

I used to say that I was not very successful in life. I had little money and not much in the way of possessions. That is what successful people have.

One day my oldest son asked me what I wanted to be when I was a child. I immediately replied that I wanted to be a mother.

He told me that I was successful because I was what I wanted to be.

I was a bit taken aback at first. Then I realized that I am just what I always wanted to be. I am a success.

13 comments:

  1. You have obviously been a great mother. I just always wanted to work with animals and especially horses. I never had any ambition to be a mother, sometimes now I regret that I had little maternal feelings but what will be will be. Take care Diane

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some people do not want to be parents. The son who helped me realize I am successful has no children. He is 50 years old. I asked him if he regrets having no children of his own because he is so good with children. He says he never wanted to be a father and he is good at it!

      Delete
  2. You wanted to be a mother, how wonderful! And your son recognizes that you are a good one, that is even better.

    By the way, do girls even play with baby dolls anymore? We used to take overgrown cucumbers and wrap them up with washcloths and pretend they were babies. We made babies out of anything! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Want to hear something funny? I seldom played with dolls. I had real babies to play with my whole life.

      Delete
  3. Good mothers are not so easy to find. Good for you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. I am certain my children could point out deficiencies in my parenting.

      Delete
  4. I wanted to be a copper, a fireman, a mechanical engineer (don't ask! :-D) and doctor (but hated blood, so that was that). :-)

    Greetings from London.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I just cannot recall my childhood dream, or I did not have any dream at that time.
    That's why I keep daydreaming nowadays.
    I am dreaming I am a good marathon runner now, of course, within my own standard. So much so I have been invincible for such a long time.
    I keep running in my free time, chasing the moon.
    :-)
    I have a dream.
    :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have not been invisible to us. Not everyone has a realistic dream as a child. Nothing wrong with that. So keep chasing the moon. Alice is right there with you.

      Delete
  6. i anted to be a CARE TAKER of my parents which means there were motherly genes inside me ,as my parents always starved for care from their only son but they were not fortunate to have it and it made me think to be with them for ever and look after them ,never dreamt about husband or future family like my younger sister


    your son is just right about you dear Emma!

    you became what you wanted to be and as you performed your all sort of duties with complete responsibility
    YOU ARE SUCCESSFUL!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. You also are successful because you did lovingly care for your parents. Way to go!

      Delete