A rock star or skateboard hero, a famous writer, an artist or something else, a dad and a hairdresser. These are the careers my children plan for themselves for the future. The future though, is in a long time. When you are all grown up, or at least 18. I encourage the kids by seeking out real life experience in whatever they are interested in, when it truly grows to a passion, understanding all the while that it may most likely be a passing one.
When Lily was eleven, she wanted to be a vet. She asked, and our exotic animal vet allowed her to shadow her for a day. She learned about pet ducks who swallow fishing hooks and how a dog is neutered. She came home so full of enthusiasm from that day! The vet had treated her as a real assistant and explained everything as she did it. When Aragorn was into drawing, I sought out real artists to learn from. One was a first-year college art student, who ended up doing a fantastic job, even though his specialty would influence my nine-year-old in unexpected ways; he was a graffiti artist. To his credit, he did begin with "real" drawing lessons; how to draw the human body. The next teacher chose Aragorn after a free class at the library; he was a professional comic artist.That was a lot of fun for him, and he has continued in comic-type drawing to this day.
They are both interested in the justice system and how things work in court. I may be able to oblige them by letting them sit in the courtroom while I interpret later this week. That is definitely a "big kid" project, as they will need to sit still, observe and not speak for a few hours at a time.
Now that Alienor has taken up cosmetology, I oblige by holding still and having my hair done. She really wished me to post the following pic of her latest work. I am afraid my unruly hair was already coming loose by the time she shot the photo. I think I'll see if her favorite hair lady will let her hang out with her for half a day. Perhaps she'll master the fine art of extra bobby pins!
