Little People Big Dreams

Little People…Big Dreams!

What do you want to be when you grow up? Kids are asked this question all the time. Part of childhood is the act of growing up. We ask kids what do they want to be, but do we as adults actually listen and take them seriously?

Yeah, sure you may get some silly answers, a clown, a cowboy, an artist, and so on. But what makes those ideas silly? Most kids eventually figure out what they want to be. Some kids know from the time they are young they want to work with animals or help people.  

Some people including children have a natural gift for things like art or music. Let them go after that. Let them try it out. Please don’t tell them that they can’t do something, just because you don’t understand it. Ask them why they want to do those things or how they want to do those things. Let them educate you in order to learn what they think fits them best.

For me personally I wanted to be a teacher. From a young age I knew I wanted to work with children. I started my college career out as wanting to be a teacher. I then was introduced to counseling and felt God calling me in that direction. I still ended up working with children, just in a different way.

Let kids “research” and check out different types of jobs. Let kids no matter if they are a boy or girl check out jobs in different areas and help them decide what is right for them. Let them test the waters with different jobs. They could job shadow you or someone else to get an idea of what different jobs are like. Or they could go visit places like a police station, a fire house, or a hospital for a tour to get an idea of what those places are like.

Let your kids dream big! Don’t tell them something can’t be done. If you are unsure if it will be something they can make a living at, let them make that choice not you. We seem to discourage kids who want to be an actor or an artist or the latest one is a video game programmer. Why do we do this? Well, you as a parent are concerned if they will make a living at it.

How will your kids know if they don’t try? Anything they want is within their reach if they are encouraged and feel supported. Also, if they want to do a vocational job like welding, let them! Those jobs are in high demand and pay well. Not every person is a school person. Some kids struggle with school and love doing physical labor every day. They work hard and make an honest living so why not?

Dreams do come true if you try and put in the work. Who said dreams are easy? They just need to be possible. As a parent or adult help children make their dreams possible. Be supportive and listen to their choices and ideas. Try not to discourage their ideas.

Kids get enough discouragement in their lives, please don’t add to it. Be their cheering section. Not just at a ball game, also in their game of life.