When you grow up...

I always enjoy hearing the responses when I pose this question to my kids:

"What do you want to be when you grow-up?"

The answers don't seem to change too much. I was a fickle little girl. One day I wanted to be a movie star. The next day I wanted to be a cashier. The next day I'd tell you I'd like to be a secretary and by the end of the week, I was flip-flopping between writer, teacher or waitress. Then I wanted to be a veterinarian or a business woman or an astronaut or run a candy store. It changed on an almost daily basis.

My boys are pretty consistent...although sometimes I really wish they'd change their minds...for their preferences are ones that make moms worry. A lot.

Recently, these are the answers I got:

Child #1 - Firefighter, EMT and Marine
Child #2 - Police Officer and Army soldier
Child #3 - Army guy
Child #4 - Chef
Child #5 - Police officer

See why I'm not all that happy when I hear their answers? I mean how could you not be proud to have a child who goes into a public service profession like that? But, really....I wouldn't be sad to once hear one of them say "computer programmer," "stock analyst" or "real estate broker." You know...a desk job where the biggest threat of physical injury is maybe a paper cut or a hernia related to lifting the bottle to refill the water cooler or something like that? But, really, most boys at one point seem to really be attracted to the glory of the professions they mentioned. Child #4 has shifted from the military/police/firefighter fields to chef. That sounds good to me. It's because they run the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school commercials all the time. And now he says that's what he wants to do - go there and become a chef.

In reality, I'll be proud of whatever path they choose. Sure, it would be nice to have a doctor in the family. Or it would put my mind at ease if they wanted to pursue a low-stress, high-paying profession. What it really comes down to is what makes them happy. Even if it does cause mom to worry.