Ok. The election is over and the pretentious female candidate from Alaska will soon disappear into the wild but I was reminded of one of my favorite stories about one of my favorite people.... my favorite candidate......my daughter.Her mother and I split up when she was only three. The kids lived with me primarily for the first five years, but her mother and I always tried to do 'team-parenting' as needed and necessary. When Miriam was five she had developed a habit of writing on the wallpaper behind her bed some rather, ah, descriptive comments about her older brother. The spellings were very creative and I was pleased that she had developed an early aptitude towards written communication, but some of the creativity called for a bit of parental intervention. I called her mother. Team parenting.
Well the talk went well. We assured her we were not mad and would gladly furnish better writing materials. The inappropriateness of certain nouns, adverbs and adjective used to describe older brother were also addressed. Done Deal.
We also used the opportunity to touch on the subject of growing up and how such a creative and intelligent girl as our daughter could grow up to be ANYONE and ANYTHING she would like to be......even PRESIDENT!!
"I don't want to be president," Miriam said.
"Why not?", mother asked.
"Well, if I grow up to be president, no one will like me. No one likes the president."
"Fair enough," I said, " but what would you like to be? You can be anything!"
"A waitress."
Mother was aghast! "Surely you don't want to be a waitress; you work hard for not much money and you are so smart! You can be anything you want to be!"
"Why do you want to be a waitress," I asked.
"Well, " she said, " No one likes the president, but EVERYONE likes the person who brings you dessert!"
Now that she is in college she is aspiring to be World Dictator. You can have any dessert you want.
18 comments:
What a great story Jim! LOL...I bet she is gonna tear up the world! Sounds like she had some pretty intelligent parenting to me.
She sounds terrific and I love the photos of her! Go ahead, let her run the world, as long as there is dessert!
I was longing to have a sample of her creative writing about her brother.
Here is something to consider about the waitressing thing: you never go hungry, you always have cash on hand, and everyone loves the person who brings them dessert.
Still, dictator of the world is probably a fine position.
Nah, if you're dictator of the world there's always the likelihood of someone poisoning your dessert. That's why they call those things 'getting your just desserts'.
She's a great looking daughter who sounds as if she started off smart and keeps getting smarter.
She'd get my vote!
susan, what do you think all those leftover wingnuts are for? Food tasters!
Do we vote on this world dictator thing? A simple plebiscite? Will she take over town after town with tanks, dispensing donuts?
randal - Good one!
Bug is one of my favorite people on the planet. Her brother ranks right up there, too.
Randal... she hasn't tackled doughnuts yet.... but she makes really great cookies, as well as making snide remarks. I taught her well. She should surpass me in snide-ness in 2009.
Utah... It really broke me up,at five, her creative spelling of asshole and 'shit-head'. It is why we needed a parenting session!
Libs...she would love you big time....Librarianish-type people are some of her favorite heros.
Susan... she is a cutie and mega-smart. She can't decide between a major in physics, graphic arts, or English. She has already completed a minor study in cookies. They are fantasitic!!
Dcup... her main philosphy is that you can skip church, but you never....never skip dessert. Her Rhubarb cake is excellent!
Ms. Feather.... yassa, when Mom and I split up we both concurred that the kids were not gonna be casualties. It turned out ok. I think more divorced parents should practice team-parenting.
Miriam is one smart cookie.
Well, speaking as an English Major, i say she should major in Graphic Arts or Physics.
I kind of can't believe I'm actually saying that because I believe in getting the most "liberal" education possible, and I think English and History are probably the two best routes to that end.
HOWEVER, bottom line is that unless a kid has a trust fund or something, he or she has to think about getting a job after college. Any of the sciences or engineering will allow her to be self-sufficient out of the gates.
An English degree, unfortunately, won't get the average kid a job that will pay for a micro-sized studio in any small, mid-sized or large city.
It's all so sad.
But seriously, she seems like she's definitely gonna rule the world one day !!! Lucky you for being her father !!!
what a neat kid! and smart like her dad
I love the family stories!
I've got something for you over at my place. Stop by and pick it up.
Anita! So good to see your back! Miriam is very cool. After her freshman year her and I checked out a college that has exceptional graphic program.... but alas, nothing that turned her on physics-wise. It was also a four and a half-hour drive from home. At eighteen she wasn't ready for that kind of separation. She is very witty and well read, but a tad shy.
dcap... I hope she grows up to be as smart as you!
Be...I will stumble on over!
Ahhhh..a child after my own heart..lets hope however she uses her college education..which I never saw fit to do. ;)
Dude...my blog tells me you put a new post up...where the hell did it go???
Dusty.... I was starting to write one.... but instead pasted a report of "Key Points (FAB)".... and fortunately did NOT paste the POST in a 'all' departments email. Now, the Post of the Paste would not have bothered y'all...but the Paste of the Post would not have been received well by certain individuals here at the office. ;)
Ah.... ;p
When my daughter Noodle was a toddler, we used to go through this mantra where she would repeat to me, "I'm smart. I'm intelligent. I can be whatever I want to be." Thankfully, pole dancer doesn't appear to be on her radar, but like you, I'm enjoying the fact that she sees a world of possibilities for herself. Great job, dad!
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