When you were 12 what did you see your adult self doing? Does it match what reality is?

[Ottakee]

I was just mentioning this to a friend.  Neither of us really exactly pictured our adult life like it is now.

 

I was going to get married (check), have 4-6 children (infertility but we adopted 3 and have a foster), spend a lot of time reading (check....when I can find the time).  I didn't envision being a foster parent to over 110 kids, having our own hobby farm, and becoming an outdoors lover.

 

I was an INSIDE person.  I played the piano, I read, I cooked.  I did NOT do sports, spend much time outside, etc.  I always loved horses but it was a dream, nothing I thought would ever be reality.  Now I spend hours and hours outside.  I can muck stalls, throw hay, and herd chickens with the best of them.  I have started kayaking, cross country skiing, geocaching, and doing lots of walking outside.

 

How does your adult life compare to what you thought it would look like when you were 12?

[Jean in Newcastle]

I wanted to be married (check), to have a nice house (no check), to have lots of kids (only partial check).  I cannot remember if I had any career aspirations.  I'm 100% positive though that I hadn't been planning on having chronic illness for almost 30 years which has made it hard to do anything I could really want to do.  

[Chris in VA]

I didn't look that far ahead, really.

I would have been way ok with marrying Dale Smith, though (cutie in my Sunday School class....).

[MEmama]

I didn't think about it. I never had an ideal wedding planned out, or a career I aspired to. I did figure I'd be a stay at home mom, and while that happened, I'm sure it would have been fine if I'd found a different path.

[Pink and Green Mom]

I was going to be married (check), be a judge (I became a lawyer which I guess was the first step), have 4 children - two girls and two boys named Charlotte, Caroline, Charles, and I forget the other boy name (infertility so never got the 4, none of those names made it), and somehow be a fabulous, rich stay at home mom in a mansion while still doing "judge stuff".  So much for that, LOL.

 

I believe, at the time, I was going to be married to either Michael J. Fox, or the guy who played Bo Duke (or whichever was the blonde one).  That was about the time I began to fight constantly with my mother, so I'm pretty sure said children were going to be able to stay up as late as they wanted, eat whatever they wanted, and be given unlimited funds to buy Jordache jeans instead of jeans from Sears.

[PeterPan]

Oh mercy.  I very distinctly remember being in the shower and having this long list in my mind of all the things I wanted to do...  I don't remember what the whole list was, but something like paratrooper, lawyer, etc., etc,. and it was all so I could be a better TEACHER!  And what a hoot that now, all these years later, indeed I really am sort of this jill of all trades, learning ice skating and OT and dyslexia tutoring and all sorts of things, all so I can be a better teacher for my kids.  :)

 

But if you caught me in high school on the other hand, I think it was something about 12 kids and a late night list my cousin and I made of all the names...  Very inventive, all starting with I maybe?   :lol: 

[hjffkj]

I wanted to have a big family and work with animals in some form. Currently I have 4 kids and own a pet sitting business so it looks a lot like what I wanted. But I also wanted a nice house and to travel a lot. Those 2 didn't pan out the way I wanted but there is still plenty of time for that since I'm not even 30 yet.

[hjffkj]

When I was either 12 or 13 I had a conversation with a friend about my 2 favorite male names. About a year into my marriage I remembered that conversation and realized my dh's first and middle name were those names. It gave me the creeps a bit but I guess that matches my childhood self too.

[Onceuponatime]

I was going to be a Spanish teacher or an optometrist an have 3 girls named Jessica, Jennifer, and Jaqueline. 😀

[ErinE]

I planned to be a chemist who owned a horse. I didn't want kids and didn't think about getting married. I wanted to take dance classes whenever I wanted as my parents couldn't afford them.

 

Being adult was very unreal to me. I can remember wondering how did adults remember to pay all those bills.

[EKS]

I was going to be Robin Williams.  Or maybe married to Robin Williams.  Or both.  

[Um_2_4]

Let's see that would have been 6th grade.... so I wanted to be President of the US (nope, just in case you weren't sure :lol: ). 

[DawnM]

Work for National Geographic as a photographer and journalist and travel all over dangerous areas of the world.

 

I wanted to get married too, and somehow didn't mesh the two in my mind.  It would just "work."   :lol:

 

Instead I became a teacher (English, ESL, History, Career Planning) and then a school counselor.

[Heatherwith4]

I wanted to be a lawyer and have no kids. Maybe get married sometime.

 

Yeah, life turned out differently. :lol:

[JudoMom]

Married, no kids, discovering the cure for autism.

 

I am so happy that I have the life I have now.

[happypamama]

I figured I'd be married with a bunch of children. I think I'd wanted babies of my own since I was about two. I said I wanted to be a teacher, but that was because saying that I wanted to be a SAH mom wasn't socially acceptable, but teaching was. I don't think I ever really intended to teach in a classroom.

 

I'm doing about close what I said I hoped to be doing. I suspect none of my middle school classmates would be surprised. I married my high school sweetheart, and I teach our houseful of children. I think I'd have assumed my bunch would have had a few more girls in the mix, but otherwise, I don't really surprise myself. Old farmhouse in the country -- doesn't really surprise my twelve-year-old self. My little girl even has the name I picked out for her long before she was even conceived. I think I'm really just a slightly older version of my young adult, teen, and childhood selves.

[texasmama]

I was going to be a veterinarian and own horses.  :)

[NoseInABook]

I wanted to be married with a lot of babies. I couldn't ever figure out what I wanted to do as a career, everything revolved around kids. I'm not surprised that I have a large-ish family but the fostering thing was a surprise. We always intended to adopt but I never wanted to foster. I thought I would have more biological children than I do but we hope to adopt in the future to keep that whole big family dream alive.

[Mommy22alyns]

I don't remember what I thought at 12.  When I was 10, I wanted to be a biomedical engineer.  I don't think I badly wanted to have kids, I was kind of "eh."  I would never, ever, ever in a million years have guessed that I would be a homeschooling mom, preparing to go all the way through high school.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I was going to Australia and marry a gorgeous man who owned a sheep farm . Marriage, live in the country, have 2 kids, and a

kangaroo as a pet. Close- marriage to a cutie, 2 kids, live in the country. No sheep or kangaroos but I do live next to an alpaca farm.

It's never too late for a wallaby!  

[JumpyTheFrog]

I was going to be a doctor.

[elegantlion]

At 12 I didn't want to get married or have kids. I wanted to own a Jeep and either be an archaeologist or travel the world working for National Geographic as a reporter and photographer. 

 

The marriage thing happened, didn't work out so great. The kid thing happened, the best surprise of them all. I owned a Jeep Cherokee for a few years. I am not an archaeologist nor have I ever worked for Nat Geo. I've only been out of the country once, although I've traveled a fair bit inside of it. 

 

My next car will probably be a Jeep. I'm a history major now, kind of like digging up old stuff - just different environment. I'm not dead yet, so there is hope I'll get to see some of the world. 

[MrsWeasley]

I thought I'd be a reclusive writer with no kids or partner. 

[Junie]

From the time I was 7, I wanted to be a teacher.  :)

 

At some point, I wanted to have 26 kids, one for each letter of the alphabet.  I don't think I'm going to make it...

[lllll]

nm

[The Girls' Mom]

Nothing in my life now resembles what I dreamed about at 12.  I wanted to move to a big city, live in an apartment, be an architect or archaeologist, and have a big dog.  I didn't want to get married or have kids.  Actually, the only thing I DID do was get out of my hometown and stay out. (thankfully)

 

[Junie]

From the time I was 7, I wanted to be a teacher.   :)

 

At some point, I wanted to have 26 kids, one for each letter of the alphabet.  I don't think I'm going to make it...

 

(Yes, I'm quoting myself...)

 

I just realized that if I were to have two more girls, I could have my own Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.  :)

[kewb]

I was going to be married. Check. Have 2 kids. Check. A dog. Check. Drive a station wagon. Sort of check. I drive a mini-van which was not a thing when I was a kid. I would be a sahm. Check. I was also going to be a vetinarian. That didn't happen. I was going to be an artist. Nope. Graphic artist. Nope. But I did work in advertising for my adult career. Live in a mansion. Nope. Travel the world. Maybe someday. Have a beach house. Fingers crossed that happens someday.

[MedicMom]

I was going to be a paramedic for a while and then become a lawyer.(First part check; if I go back to school for a graduate degree it will probably be med school)

 

I wanted to marry a guy with a boat.(check)

 

I didn't want kids. Ever. Under any circumstances. (not so much)

[Amira]

I planned to be married, have children, and not be living in the US.  I may not have managed much else in life, but I have done those three things.

[RKWAcademy]

I wanted to be a neurosurgeon. That held until freshman college chemistry. Then I switched to the business school where life was easier. I was a lazy teen.

 

I'm now a SAHM w a CPA license.

 

ETA-marriage and kids never entered the master plan back then.

[Cottonwood]

At 12 I decided I wanted to be a SAHM to two children...a girl and boy.(check). But I didn't think about where, who I'd marry, etc. Other than MacGyver...I thought of him a lot, lolol.

[The Girls' Mom]

. Other than MacGyver...I thought of him a lot, lolol.

Ooooh....me too.  MacGyver was hot...lol.

[MooCow]

Ahhh........12, that was before my big books came in.

 

A ballerina ☺

[MrsBasil]

I wanted to be single, no kids, live in a tiny apartment in a big city with public transportation, and work as a marine biologist.

 

I got married at 21, have 2 kids, live in a house in the suburbs, and am currently a SAHM who homeschools and I want a minivan.

[Happy]

At 12 real life was focused on the moon landing and I supplemented that thirst for space adventure by reading tons of sci-fi. Heinlein, Asimov, Bradbury, Clark...loved them all.

 

So...

 

My goal was to be a veterinarian on a space ship.

 

Bummer...that seems to have not happened.

 

I have raised a lot of critters--animal and human.

  

[ScoutTN]

At that age I wasn't thinking ahead at all. Just happy reading lots and lots of books and spending lots of time outdoors with dogs and horses, riding bikes, identifying flowers, swimming etc.

I learned to play basketball when I was 12 and to diagram sentences. :)

[J-rap]

I was going to be a journalist and change my name to Summer.  I don't think I thought too hard about it though.

[Miss Marple]

Not even close to reality. I had 2 career paths in mind: neurosurgeon or a female James Bond. I didnt particulatly like kids either. Wasnt too keen on marriage because it would interfere with the career path lol.

[fraidycat]

I was going to live a fabulously lavish lifestyle in a big city, volunteer lots, have a career that involved office parties a la 80's movies :D, host awesome cocktail/dinner parties, and travel the world. I may or may not have had children.

 

Reality: frumpy SAHM, minimalist, travel to and from family because I live far away, rarely have people over because I'm too lazy to "company clean". I don't have the fancy career or ultra-wealthy husband to pay for "staff" for me to host parties. Boo. :( :P

[Joker]

I wanted to be married to an awesome man (check), have children (check), and be a stay at home mom (check).

 

I never expected to home school. I also never expected life to be this messy and tough (unexpected deaths, mental health issues, etc.).

 

I absolutely love my life and the people in it, though. I feel very blessed.

[scoutingmom]

Aerospace Engineer in the Canadian military. That was what I settled on when I discovered I could never be a fighter pilot or snowbird.... my previous plans. (I wear glasses).

 

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[Eagle]

I planned to live in a penthouse in NYC and be a stock trader. In my free time I would be a palaeontologist.

 

I did actually get to take part in a dino dig, and realized it was so insanely hot in the Badlands in summer that it wasn't for me. I've visited NYC, and I own a few stocks. That's about as close as it got.

 

My profession ended up being something that didn't exist when I was 12. I read a cool article yesterday about how so many children growing up now will end up in careers that don't exist yet:

https://www.edsurge.com/n/2015-05-26-how-minecraft-and-duct-tape-wallets-prepare-our-kids-for-jobs-that-don-t-exist-yet

[Spryte]

I didn't want to get married, though I did think it would be cool to adopt from somewhere in S. Am. I wanted to be an archaeologist. And to write. Never, ever pictured being a SAHM.

 

Hmmm. I did have the life I wanted. Just through my twenties. :) I got married in my late, late twenties after years of field work and travel. I didn't write novels in my spare time, but sure did do a lot of professional writing. We adopted 2 kids.

[Mabelen]

I don't remember what plans I had at 12. From 7 to around 9 my dream was to have my own school, be the head of the school and teach my beautifully uniform clad female students. I think I vaguely wanted to have a couple of kids, girls especially, and maybe marry someone like my best friend's older brother that I had a crush on. I also wanted to have a horse. My high school dreams included traveling the world in order to master at least 5 different foreign languages, then come back to my home country and perhaps get married.

I managed to master two foreign languages and I did travel a bit, although I ended up living overseas permanently, which I had never anticipated. I also managed to be a school teacher for a while but I never owned or lead a school. I am also terribly allergic to horses but I do have a dog.

[TrixieB]

 

My goal was to be a veterinarian on a space ship.

 

Bummer...that seems to have not happened.

 

 

My dd is ROFL!

[abba12]

I always knew I wanted a large family. I remember wanting 10 kids. Then my mother told me it wasn't physically possible (liar!)  and my dreams were shattered. I resigned myself to having two children, a boy and a girl, preferably twins of course, until I met my husband who was one of 8, and it occurred to me that, hey, I COULD have more than two you know... remember those old dreams you had... now I might possibly be back on my way towards that crazy childhood dream, who knows how many God will bless us with. 

 

As for career, I actually ALWAYS wanted to be a teacher. My sister and I used to play pretend 'school' and I was the teacher, setting out coursework, rotfl! My dream was always to run my own boarding school for physically disabled students... (totally not like an institution.... I had an obsession with the concept of boarding school as a kid, and I am legally blind, so, naturally, wanted to teach disabled children. It was totally innocent! lol) It was on a farm, vegetables, animals, wool and eggs, the works. Seriously, I had floor plans and schedules and everything. It was impressive. Illegal and potentially immoral in many ways.... but impressive. 

 

I digress... 

 

My homeschooling a large family is totally fulfilling my original dream of teaching, far better than a restricted classroom ever would. Basically, I am living the dream (amazing, once you consider how my life went from ages 13-17)

 

Oh, I did also dream of fostering, or maybe being a carer in a foster home like on the show Tracy Beaker. But, I'd never foster a child older than my youngest, so right now fostering is right off the cards for us. But, perhaps down the track... we'll see where we are when we know my biological family is complete, whether that's now, with my youngest, or in 15 years, who knows. 

[foxbridgeacademy]

I was never getting married, never having kids, but I'd have 1000 friends. I was going to be a marine biologist(because I was sure I'd love the ocean) and travel the world....... funny how our dreams change, because I adore my husband and kids and while I've seen a bit of America I've never been out of the country.  I was right about the ocean though, I just can't stand all the other people.

[Dmmetler]

I wanted to go to Julliard and play professionally, preferably in the orchestra for Andrew Lloyd Webber on Broadway. I wanted to live in the big city, not have kids, and have what seemed like a very romantic life.

 

Instead I became a music teacher, a specialist in early childhood music development, a stay at home mom/homeschooler, and am rapidly becoming a specialist in reptiles and amphibians of the Mississippi River basin :), who spends many hours outside (and just spent most of a week hiking and herping WITHOUT DD).

[SKL]

I wanted to be a teacher and to have at least as many kids as my mom had (6), starting as young as possible.  I never had really clear visions of being married, but I figured that would be part of the plan of having a bunch of kids.

 

Reality - I went to university for my teaching degree but switched to law and business.  My goal at the time was to get rich and start my own innovative school.  Meanwhile I did a lot of volunteer tutoring and stuff.  I took a job developing learning materials.  Ultimately I somehow ended up in accounting and tax, LOL.  I never married and I adopted two kids who were born when I was 40.  Having 2 kids at my age might be comparable to having 6 kids in my 20s, I dunno.  ;)  I spend a lot of time teaching one of my kids, so I guess teaching is still part of my life.