My little one told me the other day that she wants to be a ballerina doctor when she grows up! She loves to dance, I even put her in dancing classes when she was three and she looks forward to it every week! I’ve signed her up for sports too like soccer and expose her to t-ball and other activities but nothing gets her really excited like dance. She has the hardest time staying still and I just just tell she has the heart of a performer. She had a little “bells performance” in her class where they ring colored bells to make the sound of carols and well known songs like “twinkle twinkle little star”. She was front and center and when all of her other class mates were standing still and ringing there bells, there was my little girl front and center wiggling her little hips. It’s crazy to think that this was the little girl who had stage fright her first dance recital. I am so proud of her and how confident she is in herself. 

     She has several disney princess costumes; Moana, Belle, Rapunzel, Elsa.. You name it. The other day we had friends coming over for dinner… Who knew they would be having dinner AND a show. She first comes out in her Moana dress and my friend is complimenting her on how great it looks and she said “I can even sound like her.” and she starting singing, dancing, putting on a whole little show in my living room for our guest and it doesn’t stop there.. She goes into her room, does a quick costume change and comes back out.. Elsa this time and blurts out the infamous “Let it Go.” It was amazing. I always encourage her to express herself how she chooses. 

     So as you can see her aspiration to be a ballerina is obvious but a doctor? I asked her what she was going to do as a doctor and she said “fix people who are hurt”. She told me she wanted to help people and make them feel so much better. She has such a heart of gold. It’s truly amazing to see a child’s heart and the way they just wear it on their sleeve. She has so much love for the world and it’s honestly so inspiring. She said that she wanted to be a ballerina doctor because she wanted to do the two things she loves the most. I almost believe she’s way past her years. Some of the things she says really blow me away, it almost makes me think for a second that she really knows what’s going on around there, which I know she has her own idea but there’s still far so much more to learn. 

Asking her what she wanted to be when she grew up made her ask me what I wanted to be. When I was younger I jumped back and fourth between jobs that involved animals. I wanted to be a veterinarian, a zoologist or even a marine biologist. I picked myself diving in the Indian ocean exploring the Great Barrier Reef, studying and finding wonderful creatures off of the coast of Australia. Saving the world one species at a time. My dad told me there was really no money in that but it was never about the money but waking up everyday getting to do what I loved and feeling like I was some how making a difference in the world one small thing at a time. 

I always want to encourage my daughter to love what she does and do what she loves. Her dreams are never ending and they will probably change from now until the time that she goes to college but whatever she decides to do I want her to stick with it and be joyous about it. I want to encourage everyone to love what they do and make the most out of everyday!

What is something that you wanted to be when you grew up? Did it change or is it still the same?