One of the many paradoxes of parenting I’ve found is that even as I worry about my daughter’s future and prepare her as best that I can to be a decent person in a world that doesn’t always reward that, I also spend a lot of time wishing that she would just stay little. Right now she is about the happiest person that I’ve ever had the privilege to be around. Growing up and becoming an adult has a way of dampening that.
Many of us have been fortunate enough to find some sense of contentment and fulfillment in our means of financially supporting ourselves, but how many actually have been able to become what “you want to be when you grow up”? The reasons will vary with each person and their previously desired occupation but even though many of these aspirations are simply unrealistic, I find that kind of sad. We can’t all be cowboys, astronauts or ballerinas but there was once a time in our lives when we honestly believed that we could be.
For most these childhood ambitions will change multiple times but the little one has been completely unwavering in her future plans. She is going to be a rock star.
She has the disposition for it, completely unencumbered by anything approaching shyness or self-consciousness. A brief solo in a school concert last year remains the highlight of her admittedly brief life to date and she’s willing to perform on demand. She’s also willing to perform when there is no demand, such as when she is supposed to be brushing her teeth, the brush looking too much like a microphone for her to ignore it’s temptation. During a recent visit to Six Flags I emerged from the restroom to find her enthusiastically entertaining the passing crowds, thankfully without a tip jar.
She’s not afraid to share the spotlight. One of her best friends has a drum kit in their garage and another has some basic keyboard skills. Mine thinks that because she can make an acoustic guitar produce noise that she knows how to play it. If anyone local knows an eight year old girl that plays bass I think that they are auditioning.
She’s too young to begin worrying that this may not be a phase that she grows out of, but it’s crossed my mind. She’s a smart kid, with a lot to offer the world and pop superstardom doesn’t come just because you decide that it’s going to. Astronaut or President of The United States might actually be a little more realistic.
I’m not going to tell her that just yet though. Instead I’ll dig out her older sister’s old Guitar Hero games for the PS3 and have signed her up for actual lessons this summer. She may just end up being a real life rock star one day but I’m not sure that lead vocalist is going to be her ticket to fame.
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Previously Published on thirstydaddy.com
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