I Want To Be....

It is Career Week at school, so the kids are supposed to talk about what they want to be when they grow up and how college can help them become that. Liam has decided he wants to be an astronaut. He seems pretty sure about it (this is the first time, really, that he has had an opinion about this subject), but he did ask me how long he would have to be in space, how many people would be on the rocket ship with him - he doesn't want to go alone - and if any aliens might look like the ones from Lego Mars Mission. I told him Not Long, about 6, and No, they would probably look more like the ones from Star Wars. He seemed okay with that.

Yesterday he was very excited to tell me that a friend in his class, Nathan, is going to be the guy who builds rocket ships. "So, we'll probably be seeing each other, you know. By the way, how long does it take to build a rocket ship?" Too cute.

Natalie has also decided what she wants to be when she grows up: a turtle. She has said this for a while now. Liam gets very upset with her, and tells her, "Natalie, you CAN'T be a turtle. That is impossible." I asked her if she had to go to college for that, and she wrinkled up her brow and looked at me hard and said "Yes." I tried prompting her with "what about a doctor, you would like to be a doctor, wouldn't you? Or a dancer- you like to dance." To everything she just says, "No, I'm a turtle."

What I would like to be when I grow up: a mother to Owen. The word on the street today was more Trip 1 cancellations for families with our agency, and rumors that the "shutdown" will last "a month or so." Since our visas (which we are due to get back next week) are good for only 30 days, I'm thinking if/when our trip is cancelled we will have to do the visa thing over again, which takes 3 weeks. I'm stepping up my Russian language lessons, since he'll probably be approaching school age by the time we meet, and I want to be prepared. (OK, that was my sad attempt at positive thinking.)