It's all about expectations

When I was a young girl, I remember my mother saying how she just knew I was going to be a lawyer with all that writing and talking that I did. She did have a point there. But she also said how she couldn't wait till my brother would become a doctor, even a heart surgeon. My brother couldn't stand a drop of blood, let alone work with it. In this instance, my mother didn't quite get it right. In the end, I didn't attend law school, and my brother didn't study to become a doctor, but both my brother and I are eternally grateful to my mother for always encouraging us and helping us discover our own talents. She also was a great mother in that she made sure we knew of the many options that were out there. We had books that were not only of one genre or one country's literature. By age 12, I had read literature from all over the world. I knew what laid beyond Albania. I knew what it took to have dreams and achieve them. I learned about ways I could use my talents. I understood what my mother had been trying to say to us by drilling into our minds the idea that if you study and learn about the world, you are actually studying and learning about yourself and the infinite possibilities that lay in front of us. I have always been confident and yearned to learn anything and everything, because I knew that new horizons would open up in front of me. What a blessing!

I've tried to use this wisdom in the education of my children. Elijah laughs when I tell James that he is going to be my doctor, and that Jefferson is going to design my many building projects as my personal architect or fly me in his own jet. I encourage Gillian with her writing and tell her that she will be a published author very soon, but I have to confess that her quick answers and beautiful language wants me to encourage her to be my personal attorney. So, you see, I've become my own mother. And it's totally okay. I will be equally happy for my children to choose any profession, as long as they have had an education of their mind, and they choose what fits them and their talents. My job is to guide them and have high expectations. I do that just like my mother did it. I introduce them to great men and women of the world through reading and studying; we check out books that teach us about anything (last book we read was about toilets); I take them to museums of various arts and sciences; and we talk and share our thoughts, hopes and dreams. James might not become a doctor, but right now he thinks he will, and he is guiding himself into learning more about that subject, even at his young age, especially at this young age.

The other day I took my children to a half-priced book store. You should have seen all of us. I wished someone had taken a picture of our eyes bulging out of the sockets from the excitement of seeing so many books in one place. This was a smaller and cheaper version of Barnes & Noble, and that store is our favorite place on earth to visit. Anyways, I told my children they each had $15 to spend and then I let them go. I tried to show them books after books that I wanted them to buy and read, but I wasn't pushy. It is my policy that when we are in a bookstore I let them make their own choices. I'm never disappointed since they are pretty informed about books and what's good and what's best. I didn't take pictures of the books I chose for them, but here is what they chose for themselves:

Granted, these are ugly pictures of my kids (since they really weren't in the mood for pictures), but I feel so happy of their choices. Gillian has finished all of the books already; Jefferson has made more than 20 paper airplanes and has played with his brothers and sister for hours at a time (although his younger brother's idea of playing with the airplanes was tearing them up); and James hasn't let this kit out of his sight, but has looked at it every single day. Who knows, he might become my doctor after all.