Don't Worry "Be" Happy

At what point do we start thinking about what we want to “be” when we grow up?

I distinctly remember an age when I realized that math was difficult for me. I remember my teacher, Mrs. Harrison staying after class with me to explain roman numerals and staring at the times tables chart over my paper bag lunches trying to memorize a pattern. Putting everything into a song really worked for me and I managed to coast through okay.

This week Abby (7) brought home a drawing illustrating that she wants to be a dentist when she grows up.  When I asked her why she said, “So I can laser my Dad’s teeth if he gets another ache in his mouth.” It’s true her Dad is terrified of dentists and has been his whole life. So Abby is graciously offering to be a dentist to help take care of him. This may actually prove to be good motivation. I guess only time will tell.

I know it's not intentional but the patient looks terrified to me...

When I then asked Izzy (5) what she wants to be she said, “Oh I don’t want to do anything, I’m just going to be a Mom.” I admit to choking on my coffee but I can explain what she meant, I think. There has been great debate about me working outside of the home; they don’t like the idea of me not being here even though they will both be in school.

Since my career is currently in flux, and having just completed college for the second time, I’m currently asking myself what I want to “be” all over again. The question is a daunting one. The truth is, none of us are just one tidy description and maybe it’s less about wanting to “be” something and more about finding out who we already are.

I don’t actually care what my girls decide to do for a career, providing they are happy and healthy and able to provide for themselves. Yes, I subscribe to the same adage my parents repeated and I never actually believed until I became a parent myself, “I just want you to be happy.” Honestly that’s all I want for anyone and everyone, especially my girls. Perhaps that’s a goal we can all work on achieving, even if just for today.

Taking Time

time  tīm/noun

noun: time; plural noun: times

1.

the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.

I have been thinking a lot about this lately. Not just because it is part of the goal of this blog, but because it was my birthday, my daughters birthday and the anniversary of my Grandfathers passing.

I also recently (with my time in Toronto) had the opportunity to reflect on how the passing of time seems to vary on the company I keep and what I accomplish in one day. I used to measure the success of my day based upon the number of things I managed to complete, or significantly diminish. Not so much anymore. I understand the value of a nap, the merit of a good conversation and the absorption of a good book.

It's Izzy's birthday this month and she couldn't be more excited. Not that long ago she was crying because she thought her birthday would never get here, I think that was two weeks ago. Children's concept of time, especially when they're younger is completely warped. Have you noticed they will say everything happened yesterday - even if it was months ago?

 

Izzy's first steps...feels like it WAS yesterday... 

Time is such an abstract concept it can only be learned by experiencing it. The older I get the more I value it, and the less perplexed I am when an entire day slips away.  And maybe the idea that "everything happened yesterday" is not such a bad theory after all. If the moments we have now create the memories for tomorrow, then a child's' concept of time is a good reminder that the things we remember may seem as if they just happened just yesterday. Be good to one another, especially the little people in your life. They might be remembering you like it was yesterday.

“No matter how much time passes, no matter what takes place in the interim, there are some things we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away.”
― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore