the family business

MANY THANKS TO MANDY LYON(my cousin!) (LYONSAYSROAR.BLOGSPOT.COM) for sharing the following:

tuesday, june 2, 2009

the family business

It's the end of the school year. These days, the schools celebrate this special event with lots and lots of awards... I'm talkin' LOTS. (At least our school does.) Kaia's Kindergarten class held a fabulous event, filled with cheering and screaming for top achievement in things like never being tardy and generally completing the school year. Very exciting stuff.

Actually there was part of the program that made the whole thing worth it for me. Her teacher had each child write down what they want to be when they grow up and then draw a picture of themselves doing their chosen profession. And these kids had BIG ambition. (I mean, once you've received so much praise for being punctual- you feel like the sky's the limit, right?) There were football players and soccer players; firefighters and soldiers;pool cleaners and grass cutters. (Seriously! I wish I were kidding... ok, maybe I don't.) I'm slightly embarrassed to admit it, but Kaia's chosen profession just about had me teary-eyed. As we stood outside her classroom, I looked at all the drawings these kids had made of things they wanted to be. And there in the middle, was my little girl's drawing of a smiling woman, wearing a flowery dress, and the caption: "Mom".


She was the only girl in her class that said she wanted to be a mom when she grew up. When her teacher read it out loud in front of all the kids and parents, the kids erupted in laughter and a few of the parents snickered. But she didn't even flinch. She just glanced to the side and flashed me one of those sweet Kaia grins. I don't know why, but it just made my heart happy that that's what she would want. I guess I felt like maybe I've done a few things right if she would want to follow in my footsteps- take over the family business. ;) I think in this world, where the aspiration of being a stay-at-home mom is so often scoffed at, it's amazing that there are still little girls (and some not-so-little girls) that just want to do what they do best... nurture and care for others. That part, to me, was better than any run-of-the-mill award that she received. Her teacher presented her with many of them, but all I could think about was how proud I was of what she wanted to be.