{"id":8230,"date":"2014-09-19T11:48:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-19T01:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ourowncorner.com\/poohsden\/?p=8230"},"modified":"2014-09-19T07:54:49","modified_gmt":"2014-09-18T21:54:49","slug":"a-happy-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourowncorner.com\/poohsden\/a-happy-girl\/","title":{"rendered":"A Happy Girl"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i>This post first appeared at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.robinage.com\/blog-post\/mommy-when-i-grown-up.htm\">the Robinage Blog<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<p>If someone ever gave me a rupee each time I was asked \u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d I would have a serious investment portfolio all set up and would be looking to retire in the coming 5 years. Unfortunately it doesn\u2019t happen that way.<\/p>\n<p>Your uncle, aunt\u2019s cousin twice removed and his pet cat, the flower vendor, the auto driver, the random stranger you share the seat with on the bus &#8211; everyone is curious about \u201cambition\u201d and \u201cfuture plans\u201d. Lofty words used right from the time you can talk. School essays constantly have \u201cWhen I grow up, I want to be\u201d as a topic. To test kids creative and writing skills.<\/p>\n<p>I admit it is quite a good conversation starter, an ice breaker at dinner tables and parties. Kids get warmed up with that question. The answers from the kid ensure that the parents have fodder to talk. It keeps things moving. But I have often wondered why we ask this loaded question. Why do we need to have a stock answer ready? A doctor, a fireman, a teacher and such.<\/p>\n<p>I remember mentioning I wanted to be a psychiatrist, a botanist and more when I was in my teens. They were shot down. I was taunted and traumatised for my choices. I retreated into my shell wondering what I was doing wrong. It left a mark. A scar. Something I carried into my journey as a mother. Thinking about it today, I was probably fascinated by these professions and would not have preferred to do it as a grown-up. But at some point in life it mattered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d is one question I try not to ask my 5 year old. (or any other kid I meet) I don\u2019t want her to feel the undue pressure the society and parents put on kids. I don\u2019t want her to grow up. I want her to skip, hop and dream about unicorns and rainbows. Butterflies and destinations unknown. I don\u2019t want her to feel that life is about a degree and a profession. Instead I remind her that the most important thing in life is to find things that make her happy. Like glitter and trips to the swimming pool.<\/p>\n<p>I point out to the tulip design on my cappuccino and tell her it is an art to create such designs &#8211; latte art. \u201cYou can train to be a barista. You can create these stuff when you grow up,\u201d I tell her. \u201cNah!\u201d she shrugs off munching her cookie. \u201cAmma, can I be more than one thing when I grow up?\u201d she asks with cookie crumbs coating her face. I squash the urge to clean her face and shut down the logical voice screaming in my mind. \u201cOfcourse. You can be anything you want to be. Whatever brings you happiness,\u201d I affirm.\u00a0She wipes her face and smiles. The smile melts my heart &#8211; it is the one I want her to carry through the ages. The genuine-from-the-heart smile not like the fake ones I often sport at boring meetings and networking meets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to be a Ballerina, a Doctor, a Dentist, a Veterinarian and an Astronaut,\u201d she declares earnestly watching my face. Her voice filled with hope and her eyes probing. \u201cAn astronaut who dances in space,\u201d her dad quips. She doubles in laughter. \u201cOh daddy! You are so funny,\u201d she giggles.<\/p>\n<p>I hope that she will have reasons to giggle and double with laughter as she grows older &#8211; to enjoy the moments and make memories. And when someone asks her what do you want to be when you group, I hope she adds the word \u201chappy\u201d before any profession she chooses.<\/p>\n<p>The happy Ballerina!<\/p>\n<p>The happy Doctor!<\/p>\n<p>The happy Dentist!<\/p>\n<p>The happy Vet!<\/p>\n<p>The happy Astronaut!<\/p>\n<p>The happy Girl!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This post first appeared at the Robinage Blog If someone ever gave me a rupee each time I was asked \u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d I would have a serious investment portfolio all set up and would be looking to retire in the coming 5 years. Unfortunately it doesn\u2019t happen that way. Your uncle, aunt\u2019s cousin twice removed and his pet cat, the flower vendor, the auto driver, the random stranger you share the seat with on the bus &#8211; everyone is curious about \u201cambition\u201d and \u201cfuture plans\u201d. Lofty words used right from the time you can talk. School essays constantly have \u201cWhen I grow up, I want to be\u201d as a topic. To test kids creative and writing skills. I admit it is quite a good conversation starter, an ice breaker at dinner tables and parties. Kids get warmed up with that question. The answers from the kid ensure that the parents have fodder to talk. It keeps things moving. But I have often wondered why we ask this loaded question. Why do we need to have a stock answer ready? A doctor, a fireman, a teacher and such. I remember mentioning I wanted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[191,199,620,1274],"tags":[162,621,642],"class_list":["post-8230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-room","category-kuttymas-nursery","category-mommy-gone-overboard","category-writings","tag-kuttyma","tag-motherhood","tag-parenting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Happy Girl &#8212; PoohsDen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ourowncorner.com\/poohsden\/a-happy-girl\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Happy Girl &#8212; PoohsDen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This post first appeared at the Robinage Blog If someone ever gave me a rupee each time I was asked \u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d I would have a serious investment portfolio all set up and would be looking to retire in the coming 5 years. 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