As Joshua turns into a little person and leaves the "baby" behind him, I often wonder who he will be when he grows up. Here are a few of the ideas he's given me so far:
Landscaper:
One day Joshua and I helped Paul pick up some sticks in the yard and it was as if Joshua had found his calling. Every day he wanted to go outside and pick up sticks. As many as possible at the same time. He's lucky because our back yard is a stick heaven with all of the huge old trees.
I've been trying to keep up with watering our flowers and plants, so I'll bring Joshua out in the front yard and let him wander around while I use my watering can. He decided that the plants were tired of getting boring old water and thought they might like some orange juice instead.
He also likes to use the rake, or I should say TRY to use the rake. It's about 4 times bigger than him which means he can't really move it. So he just stands there holding it. So maybe he'll be a lazy landscaper.
Musician:
Joshua has some "skeels" on the piano if I do say so myself. He must get that from me. Here's a little sample. He's no child prodigy, but he plays with enthusiasm and it makes him smile. Plus he can say "piano", so that must count for something.
Joshua's cousin Jed probably has a much greater chance of being a musician since both of his parents are very talented with various instruments. I'm really the only one with any musical experience in our family. Paul never played an instrument growing up. He did show a brief interest in learning guitar while we were dating. I was kind of excited about that, so after we got married I asked if he'd like to take some lessons. "Nah, I've got a girl now, I don't really need to play guitar." Dang!!!!! I should have played harder to get until he learned to sing me a few songs.
Civil Engineer:
Joshua and I took a trip to one of my favorite places, Schuler's Bookstore. It was the first time I've ever spent any significant time in their children's section. I hadn't even noticed they had a big Thomas the Train set for the kids to play with until Joshua was quite fascinated with it. So I'm sure after playing with it he was already designing roads and railways in his head.
And I had to take a picture of the sign they have on the register in the children's book area. If you can't read it, it says "Unattended children will be given an espresso and a puppy."I thought about testing them since I've really been wanting another Viszla puppy, but I was too afraid of what an espresso would do to Joshua, so I thought better of it. I think my friend Callie would have felt exactly the opposite. She's not a dog fan.
Football Player:
Of course, this is Paul's dream for Joshua. So far Joshua seems quite interested. He is fascinated by any kind of ball, but balls used in a sport have a special fascination for him. Footballs, baseballs, basketballs,......he loves them all. And since he can't say his "f"s yet, he also calls them all the same thing: buh-ball.
I got him a squishy football (not technically a Nerf, it was only $4), but he loved that thing. You'll notice I use the past tense, and I'll get to that in a minute. At first Joshua seemed a little confused about what to do with his football and spent most of the time trying to eat it.
He did not succeed at eating the ball, so Junuh finished the job for him. Well, he didn't technically eat it, more like shredded it. And thus I realized I don't really need a puppy because I already have one. He may be almost 10 years old, but don't tell him that.So Joshua graduated to the REAL football a bit earlier than planned. He likes it just as well, and still thinks it might be good to eat. I don't think he realizes how long his dad has had that football and all of the places it might have been.
So these are my early guesses for some of the things Joshua might want to do with his life. Actually, he could do all of these things, at the same time or at different times. Or he might do none of them. I've seen alot of parents turn their kids lives into the lives they wished they had. However, I have had a great life, so I do not have any plans for the directions Joshua will go. I'm praying that Paul and I can stay out of the way well enough for God to be able to mold Joshua into the man He wants him to be. It's much more important to me the kind of man that Joshua is than what he does for fun or a career.
