Sunday afternoon the boys and I tried our hands at recycling plastic into something new and fun for a school project. Actually my oldest and I did, the younger one was busy playing with the vacuum and pot lids. Even still, we had a blast making my son’s favorite thing, a rocket. Content from a quiet day of eating his favorite colors (green & purple), and painting this new, plastic, rocket ship, my son shared a dream of his with me. He wants to be an astronaut. My son believes that he is smart enough, and is so fascinated with the big, black, infinite universe, that he decided he wants to see it for himself one day. 
Now he is only three years young, but when you really think about it, this is not such an impossible feat. Some parents might use this opportunity to introduce “realistic” goals like becoming a science teacher, a software engineer, or a scientist. Not just because we may see this dream as impossible, but because we may be afraid of a future filled with years of solitude in space, dying at take off, or never even accomplishing it. I see it as an opportunity to simply say “ooh that’s great, you can do that. Where are you going to go first?!!”. I say this with a big smile, enthusiasm, and excitement over the simple fact that he decided to share his dream with little ole me, while we snuggled under his Spiderman comforter. I proceed to encourage, excite and just engage him in this bedtime conversation.
Can you imagine who we would be today if we would have stuck with our dreams when we were a young child? Children (well most) during their early years are so excited about life and learning, they set goals according to their own desires untarnished with the fear of failure. They dream without any concern for money, status, or the stock exchange (lol), they don’t give a hoot about any of that; they are concerned with fulfilling their dreams and being who they know they can be. Children are so selfish, I love it! I don’t believe I have to share my adult fears with my child during conversations such as these. At least not now, doesn’t he deserve the chance to have innocent hope and beautiful dreams of a bright future?
I have no idea where I am going with this post, except to simply say that children are so exciting and we have to encourage them and introduce them to things of this world and beyond. Also to say that we will see my son, in the near future soaring through space, shining bright like the star his Big Mama always tells him he is. If that’s what he wants, of course.
