Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion When they grow up

Do your kids already have an idea of what they want to do/be when they grow up? Dd6 tells me she knows she wants to be a teacher but she is worried about the kids being too difficult. She assumes this based on what she sees in her kindergarten class lol.

I can totally see her being a teacher, she has that nurturing personality. She already reads to her classmates, not to show off, but rather because she really enjoys it and they want to be read to. She will also play teacher at home by giving lectures/lessons to imaginary students.

When oldest D was 4 she wanted to work at Hardees. I believe she thought she could eat an unlimited number of egg & cheese breakfast sandwiches if she worked there... she graduates from college next month, has a consulting job lined up, and is not planning on a fast food career after all.

I got a funny one the other day.

My DS4 said he hopes aliens come to Earth and become our friends so he can go work as a veterinarian for them on their home planet. Then if they became hostile towards Earth, they would still be nice to him since he keeps their pets healthy.

Usually he just says scientist

I LOVE that response. That is hysterical.

My DD2 went to the doctor a few months ago, who asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. She said "a cow."

This was the same week that she had gotten into my sanitary napkins and was using them as bandaids, making pretend road dividers with them, and taping them to her legs to use as shingards while kicking balls around the living room. She still had her "shingards" on when she told the doctor her desire to become a cow.

heehee

Over the years:

Wolf: a robotic engineer (to build droids), an electrical engineer {to invent the first "real" light saber), a small retail store owner (like his dad), a restaurant owner or cook (he wasn't specific, it just involved food and a business).

Bear: a teacher (specifically a gymnastics instructor)

In no particular order, DS6 wants or has wanted to be a roboticist, astrophysicist, teacher, education researcher, computer scientist, chemist, astronaut, writer, game designer, U.S. Marshal (like Raylan Givens)

My daughter's first grade teacher was a fine arts major and exposed the children to a great deal of hands-on art such as painting their own Monet water lilies. My daughter decided that year she wanted to be an artist. She is in college now working as a graphic artist while pursuing a fine arts degree.

At the age of two, my older son wanted to be a fire truck. No matter how often we explained that the fire truck was not an option, he said he would invent the technology to be anything he wanted to be. By about age 8, he became fascinated with cars - which has turned into passion over the years. He is in college pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering with a goal of becoming a designer of cars.

The youngest wanted to be a soldier paleontologist when he was very little. Why the combo? So he could defend his new finds from others who would want to take it away. Over the years, he has wanted to be president, a senator, owner of his own video game software company, a drummer, a surgeon, and a mobile app developer. About the only consistent tone in his ideas has been that he would be the owner, be in charge. He's 12 and in no hurry to settle on any one idea.

DD9- anesthesiologist, so that she can put people to sleep.
DD6- a mommy She is my babydoll girl... Loves babies!

dd11-concert violinist and author
dd5-farmer, mommy, teacher

DD--teacher, acrobat, artist, and ornithologist
DS--ocean scientist (only one he's ever named and it never wavers)

dd8 - changes daily but typically it is in the arts field and over 75% of the time it involves "...working at Pixar."
For example, animator at Pixar, storyboard artist at Pixar, writer for Pixar, background artist at Pixar..
She likes the idea of riding her scooter around, the cereal bar and the themed offices that they have.
This week, she's into fashion design (not at Pixar).

I think she needs to find a mentor at Pixar! FWIW I have a paper written in my head about Dabrowski's TPD in the Pixar movies! Love all of them.

DD7 told us what she wanted to be when she grew up when she was:

3 - a butterfly, a ballerina, and a mermaid
5 - a cashier at Walmart (who lives in a box)
7 - a teacher

She's trending up the economic ladder, so that's good.

Hee hee. Don't I know it. You'll have to share your paper when you get it "on paper." : )

We love Pixar, here. We spend a lot of time watching the bonus features, if you can't tell.

DS8 has wanted to be an archeologist or paleontologist since he was 5. He also wants to go to University of Chicago for grad school because that is where Indiana Jones went. I suspect his choice may waiver when he finally realizes he won't get to be Indy.

Oh, I love these. Made my day.

Our daughter wanted to be a National Park Ranger for many years. Now, at 14, she wants to be a Dermatologist. She loves watching those "gross" videos on YouTube of people popping pimples. Oh well, someone has to do it.

Dd13's career goals starting at age three have gone from: underwater photographer of sirenians (manatees and relatives), marine biologist with a specialty in sirenians, marine mammologist with a specialty in sirenians, tide pool biologist (she is now finding that she likes the weather in the pacific North-west better than FL and tells me that she knows "everything" there is to be known about manatees).

Dd11 has been leaning toward Hollywood make-up artistry for a bit now.

DS(3y): a driver, then a blacksmith, now a publisher.

Me: an archaeologist, but I'll go back to drawing if that fails

Who doesn't want to be a Mythbuster when they grow up? I know I do!

Too funny. I would have loved to have been one of Indy's students!

DS5-- Plans to be an Engineer and build a spaceship for
DS3-- who wants to be Astronaut.

My son who used to be very interested in neuropsychology says he now wants to be an actor/voice actor or teacher. He has been reading about people who are teaching English in Japan and he would like to do that for a few years. He says he can see himself teaching anything but math.

We have homeschooled since he finished kindergarten but it always seemed like he taught me more than I taught him. We have been doing a mix of unschooling and co-learning for years. This year he was very interested in political science and taught me a lot about that. He always managed to find really good educational videos for me to watch and Wikipedia articles and books. He teaches by having me read and watch really good educational videos that he finds online. He also asks me questions to make sure I was paying attention and understood the material, but my favorite thing is that he sometimes uses humorous scenarios (making use of his improv acting and sound effects) to make a point. He just has so much passion for the things he learns and shares with me. He reminds me of a community college Business Law teacher I had years ago that I liked because he made something that I might have found kind of boring much more interesting. I used to wonder if that guy was a part time actor or comedian.

Reading this thread reminded me of some of ds11's past interests


One of his first "professions" was to be a water fountain designer. There was excitement every time he saw a new fountain. When he was 2 we stayed in DC for part of the summer and we could not leave the building without first going to the courtyard to see the fountain there. One time I tried just leaving the building without looking at the fountain first and ds was not happy. He made this outrage apparent to anyone who was in the area. The guy at the front desk asked me "What were you thinking, leaving the building without looking at the fountain first!. This actually lasted for a few years in different forms. He would build fountain contraptions in the back yard using hoses, empty pipes etc, and an old plastic playground slide.
.
The lifeguard era came next (actually overlapping with the fountains). I had to buy two lifeguard shirts one summer so he would have one to wear while the other one was in the wash.

Then came the beginning of his computer programming interest. He first liked Microsoft paint and some other graphics software (the name escapes at the moment). He started designing water park "blue prints". Of course they were complete with water fountains and the lifeguard stations.

Now he is programming web browsers for the new HTML5 and getting my old computer to work with some of the new features of HTML5. He is trying to figure out what he can do with programming for work. Of course he wants to be in control running his own business involving programming in some way. Oh yea, I almost forgot he wants to teach. He is always trying to get people to be students in his "basement" school, with real homework, this does not go over well with DS8.


I really enjoyed reading everyone’s responses to this thread. The kids have so many unique interests, and such strong passions and intensities for their interests, It makes feel so not alone for DS11.

DS9 wants to figure out how to stop the polar ice caps from melting.

He wants to start this year by growing sweet corn and watermelons, selling them to get some money to get started.

He is all over the board.

DS7 - Chemist
DS5 - Entomologist

DD6. First asnwer. "invisble"
Second Answer "masage tharapist"
Third answer "gymnastics teacher"

DD 10. First answer. A Ballet Dancer
Second answer: an orthadontist

When my DD was three, she asked me, Does a teacher go to college?, Yes. What about dentists, do they go to college? Yes. Mommy, do pirates go to college? I got a quizzical look when I said Yes, but it is called an MBA ;-)

Not sure what she wants these days. She is 11 now and talks about sociology. We have discussed various health and medical professions too. She would be a great teacher, but I worry about the level of disrespect I see toward teachers these days and don't encourage that much

DS8 is all about math, engineering and physics. My husband and I own a business and he also talks about taking that over someday, which is sweet and adorable.

It's funny and a bit disturbing when cashier at Walmart is higher up the economic ladder than ballerina.

DS 6 wants to be a marine biologist but wants to do research in the Amazon Rain Forest. His BFF pointed out his research would have to be in the Amazon River.

LOL! That's the sort of answers my kids hear, too.

Thus far dd (14) wants to stay a kid and ds (also 14) wants to be the head of the CIA. (Dd is considering art school, as a second choice.)

I'm not sure what being a ballerina pays, but I know that Walmart pays slightly better than butterfly or mermaid.