Last weekend at a family gathering I found myself talking with my cousin who has three children ages five and under. He was describing the youngest one (3 years old) and her personality. Instead of telling me what she was like, he said “She’s either going to be a politician or a Super Villain.” I laughed at the prospect of a father thinking his youngest daughter could be something of a comic book character. But then I began thinking about how we attribute future careers to our kids.
When I was pregnant with my son, he never stopped kicking and moving. At each doctor’s visit, we had trouble hearing his heartbeat because he was constantly moving away from where the doctor was listening. Each time I told people about that, they would say he was going to play sports or be a gymnast. It’s funny how they always assigned careers to him based on his personality before it’s even had a chance to form. Why didn’t they think he would make a good demolition derby driver? They have to weave around a lot. Or how about a waterslide tester? Or a kung-fu movie actor? They definitely have to kick and move quickly!
