Friday, August 17, 2007

Planning for the Future

On the way to school today, Maggie and Aleita were in the back seat talking. I love those moments when they forget I am there for a little bit - - those times when I get a small glimpse into those things that they talk about when I am not around. This morning, it was hard to suppress my laughter as we drove along. Here is a small snippet of the exchanges between the two of them:

Maggie: When I get older, I think we should have houses next door to each other.
Aleita: No, I want to live with you.
Maggie: Mmmm….well maybe. But how about we just live in houses BESIDE each other?
Aleita: I want grandma and papa to live there too.
Maggie: OK – how about Grandma Mary and Papa Dale move into one house, Grandma Helen and Papa Kenny move in next to them, and you can live on one side, and I’ll live on the other. (notice no mention of dear old mom and dad, hmm?)
Aleita: I want my house to be pink.
Maggie: Me too. Brick like ours, but pink.

They discussed their future housing plans a bit more, then moved onto the subject of what they wanted to be when they grew up.

Maggie: When I grow up, I want to work at McDonald’s. How about you, Aleita? Do you want to work at McDonald’s?
Aleita: Yes – and then I can eat chicken nuggets and french fries and ketchup.
Maggie: You can’t eat them when you’re working – you have to wait until you’re done to eat them. Hey - - how about we work at the McDonald’s by Grandma Mary’s house? We can work together!
Aleita: OK. I want to juggle too.
Maggie: Juggle?
Aleita: I want to juggle in a circus (a glance in the backseat showed Aleita juggling imaginary balls. . ..or flaming swords for all I know!)
Maggie: You can’t juggle in a circus if you are working at McDonald’s!
Aleita: I’ll do both!
Maggie: (finally including me in the discussion) She can’t do both, can she Mommy?
Me: She can if she wants - - she can work at McDonald’s and be a circus juggler.
Aleita: See! I can do both!
Maggie: OK, then I want to do both too.

We always tell our kids that they can be anything they want to be, right? It seems my kids will be living in pink houses near their grandparents, and supporting themselves through their employment with McDonald’s and the circus. Looks like that we may not need that money for college after all, right? Perhaps we’ll keep investing towards that goal, just in case though.

1 comment:

papadale said...

Papa Dale and Grandma Mary are thrilled with the idea of the new housing plan, just remind them they'll need some extras bedrooms, the kids from Cleveland and Mt. Zion need a place to stay too. Seriously, I think it's great that those two already have a grasp of the really important things in life, Family, and, of course Mickie D's, Oh, and a pink brick house.