Dream Big

Sometimes I look at my van more like a roving child psychology clinic than a vehicle.  It’s where ideas and seeds get planted in my kids’ skulls.  It’s where the day’s events get ironed out many times.  It’s where we decide on discipline tactics.  Keeping the kids captive isn’t a surefire guarantee that they will listen, but it’s decidedly more likely than trying to compete with a TV,PlayStation, or a group of playmates.  It’s a nice way to talk with them and not have a lot of distractions. 

Jake is the car guy.  He can spot Mazdas a mile away and asks us to get a Hummer everytime he sees one.  On more than one occassion I’ve planted the notion that to afford a car that nice, he will have to work hard in school, get good grades and go to college.  He gets it… I think. 

While driving to a baseball game this morning,  Jake spotted a car he thought was really cool and told me that when he got grown up he was going to buy one and if we were still alive, he would get us one too. 

Me:  That is a really cool car.  How are you going to pay for a car that nice?

J:  I’m going to get a job.

Me:  How are you going to get enough money to buy it?

J:  I’ll work longer.

Me:  Or, you could make sure you get a good job.  What do you think you need to do to get a good job?

J:  Go to college.

Me:  Right.  And how do you get into college?

J:  Get good grades.

Me:  Right.  You have to practice reading and doing your homework even now so you can go to college.  Then you have to work hard at college to get good grades and learn a lot so people will want to hire you.

J:  And I need to take driving lessons.

Me:  That would be a good plan.   So do you still want to be a veterinarian and help animals or do you think you want to fix Mazdas when you grow up?

J:  No,  I want to sell cotton candy.

I think it may be time for me and little Jake to go on a road trip together.

 

~ by karmental on May 17, 2008.