dragons in the flower bed Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 When you were a child (thirteen years old and younger), how did you most commonly answer the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" How about your spouse? How did it end up? When I was three until I was six I wanted to have thirteen children. From then to about eleven, I planned to open an orphanage for girls in China. I wised up at twelve and decided to become a Waldorf teacher. In the end . . . during that brief period between adulthood and motherhood, I was a tutor, researching and developing curriculum for a little independent tutoring company that was hoping to work with homeschoolers. My partner always wanted to be a writer. His mom named him after her favorite poet in the hopes that he would become one. He published his first poem in Highlights when he was a little kid. He still does that now, but he's always participated in better paying work, too, right now mostly our eBay biz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Peregrine Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to be a psychologist or a caterer.:001_smile: DH always wanted to be a police officer and he is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to be a psychologist or a caterer. Wow, so you kind of got your wish in motherhood, hm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Peregrine Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Wow, so you kind of got your wish in motherhood, hm? Hey! You're right, LOL Now I want to be a photographer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich with Kids Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to be a cowgirl or a waitress.. my DH wanted to be a photographer. We are both living the dream! (I'm not a cowgirl...just a waitress, maid, chauffer...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 My dh was going to be a race car driver. He probably would have except for a set of circumstances he could not overcome. I wanted to be an archaeologist, specifically an Egyptologist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyinTN Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Dh wanted to be a soldier in the military...ended up being a pharmacist in military. I wanted to be a nurse and accountant....I take care of kids and pay the bills so I guess that counts, right?:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivetails Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I think I changed my mind every month or so - I remember wanting to be a teacher, an actress, a race car driver, and a fighter jet pilot. I've got one of the four now anyway. :D dh wanted to be a long haul truck driver and I think he mentioned teacher at one point as well - his current job is a warehouse/parts tech for a mining company out west. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plaid Dad Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to be a writer or a teacher. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Heather Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to be a geologist, or a nurse. Ended up with a degree in Clinical Laboratory Science. That covers the medical part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy loves Bud Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to be an architect, all the way from my childhood through my first year of college. I was drawing houseplans for as long as I can remember. But after my first year of college, the critical nature of the field was so depressing to me, I switched. I was good at it, but not gifted, if you know what I mean, so it is probably for the best. Good architects often end up drafting for gifted architects, LOL. Being a doctor was a much better fit for me, being a homeschooling mom even better! Great thread! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Virginia Dawn Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to be a Spanish teacher after my dad was stationed in in Puerto Rico. I also wanted to be an optometrist after my first real eye exam, I was fascinated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I didn't like being a kid so I always wanted to be a grown up, married with children. So today I am a grownup married, and have 4 precious children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassicMom Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I was well on my way until our oldest landed in our lap (she is adopted). We were NOT going to have children! :lol: I kept working and finished both of my degrees after she came into our lives while dh did a lot of the child-rearing. Slowly my heart softened. After I finished college and the place that I was working closed. I started re-evaluating my life. Yea, AFTER I had two degrees and student loans! Anyway, when she was about 2 1/2 we decided that money wasn't all that and that we really did enjoy kids and wanted more and #2 was on the way! It was while I was pregnant that I found some books on homeschooling and I said "Wow, people actually do this, I could never do it." AHAHAH!! :lol: We started homeschooling her the following fall. :D Here we are still homeschooling, 15 years and 5 kids later!! :rofl: I do use my accounting degree in my very part-time job. Still paying those student loans too! :w00t: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam Wilhelm Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I used to tell people that I wanted to be the crazy old lady down the street that everyone went to for advice/help/conversation...... that I'd have cool stories to tell, a bizarre life to recount, etc........... My Mom says that I used to say this from the time I was very little (no, I'm not normal :D ). You know, like the "witch" in the old Disney movie Thomasina...... like that and more. I'm pretty much what I wanted to be........ :lol::lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to be a fighter pilot in the Air force. I never wanted to be a mom until I actually had my children and now I would not change it for the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to a journalist specializing in biological/science issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorna in the boonies Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to be either a veterinarian or a teacher. I became a teacher and taught special education until I had kids. Dh wanted to be a police officer. He is a pastor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashleen Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to write romance novels. I had all these books about how to write romance novels and I'd read them over and over. During college I didn't have time to read "for fun" anymore but I still thought I'd be a romance novelist after graduation. I wrote reams of character sketches, plot outlines, and several partial manuscripts. I even met some people in the industry who were generous with sharing their wisdom. Imagine my surprise, then, at the age of 22, when I suddenly realized that I didn't like romance novels anymore. I was most of the way done with a Viking romance and I'd really enjoyed the months spent researching Vikings. I realized that I now enjoyed research more than I enjoyed romances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to be a teacher. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to be a nurse. Dh wanted to be a giraffe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelli in TN Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Ironically we both wanted to be lawyers. Dh was out of money after four years of college so his criminal justice degree was where he stopped. I never had the opportunity to go to college as I was self supporting at 17 and did well just to finish high school while working two jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassicMom Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 :w00t: I wanted to be a nurse. Dh wanted to be a giraffe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dayle in Guatemala Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 to Amsterdam, Holland. Why am I, then, in Guatemala? God has a sense of humor and knows that I needed pruning! Actually, I just want to be where I'm supposed to be! Right now, with our dc the ages they are, maybe Amsterdam wouldn't be the right place for us. But, we know that someday we'll get there. We want to work with street kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Lynx Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 At 13 I would have answered that I was going to be a cosmologist. One adult to whom I gave this answer actually patted my head and said "You mean cosmetologist, dear." :glare: When the Shuttle went up, I wanted to be a Mission Specialist. DH wanted to design spaceships. But at the same time, I always wanted to run a school. I used to plan out curriculum and school schedules for fun, all throughout my childhood. And, I always wanted to write. When I turned 14 I discovered rock and roll, and then decided to be a rock star ;-) I was a mess in college. I started out as a communications major and a music minor, with a goal of performance and video/audio production. The problem is that I'm not very good :D (at the performance part, anyway). By the time I realized that wasn't going to happen, my math skills were not good enough for physics (and job prospects were dim in that field). I studied English because I loved it, and was good at it, but had no idea what I was going to do for a career. I fell in love with history, and decided on teaching, in my senior year, when it was too late to do anything about it. Now I'm torn between being a midwife, and a Latin teacher. DH wants to be a curmudgeon. I am certain he will succeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gandpsmommy Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I don't really remember thinking about it much when I was very young, but around age 11-13 I wanted to be a poet, a psychologist, or an attorney. I ended up having very little idea what I wanted to really do when I got to college because I was too hung up on finding what I was "supposed" to do and trying to figure out "God's will". I really didn't know myself very well then, or perphaps I was afraid to find out what I really wanted. Anyway, I ended up starting out as an undecided major, then trying out social work (because I wanted to help people), then early childhood education (for a very brief time before I thankfully realized that classroom teaching was soooooooo not me. I'm not even sure I officially declared it as a major.) And then I finally declared Spanish as my major and Linguistics as my minor because I loved studying grammar, and acquisition of language was fascinating to me. I worked as a Spanish teacher at a private school for one semester after college, but I really hated every minute of it. Classroom teaching is just not me. I do think I would really like to be a college professor someday, becaue I think it has a totally different dynamic than high school, and I am an academic at heart. Right now I'm a stay-at-home mom, educating my own children, and it suits me well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krista in LA Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to be an airline stewardess. That was my favorite thing to play with my Barbies. At some point in time I switched to wanting to be a pilot. By the time I was in high school, I wanted to be the CEO of GE. I don't know why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to be a cinematographer or archaeologist. My dh at one point a cyclist, now just a rock climber. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to be an archaeologist, specifically an Egyptologist. I also wanted to be a teacher. And that's what I actually wound up doing. But I still love Egyptian history! When dh was little, he wanted yo be a cowboy; later, he wanted to be a writer and a minister. Now he is a minister and a writer. He writes curriculum for a character education program (The Integrity Project) that he has developed, and he markets it to schools, churches, corporations, judicial systems, and correctional facilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 When I was 9, we had to do our first report in school. Mine was on archaeology and I thought that I wanted to become an archaeologist. Throughout my teens, I was heavily influenced by a terrific biology teacher in my high school. I was also very interested in ancient civilizations of the Americas, particularly the Inca/Aztec/Maya triad. My mom tried to get me to major in biology in college, but I very quickly changed my major back to anthropology once she was off campus, LOL.... I did move from an archaeology emphasis to something more related to my biology background, namely physical anthropology. I discovered somewhere along the way that I had an interest in business law, so ended up working for a law office for a short time to see where my main area of interest was in prep for possibly going to law school. I also got certification as a paralegal. I discovered that medical malpractice (incorporating all my biology/forensics stuff) was my main interest. I did get accepted to a law school, but I also received an opportunity at the same point in time to work as a medical malpractice adjuster for major claims throughout a state, directing the activities of the best attorneys in several major firms. I chose the latter option and had a blast! Since moving here, I've homeschooled. I do teach biology, geology and geography classes for other homeschoolers, periodically. We're getting ready to do logic stage biology this year, so I'm needless to say, excited! Talking about all this makes me want to do a pre-history of the Americas class, too, LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Dh is doing what he wanted to do- ranching. I wanted to be a vet, I'm about as close as you can get without being one. If I had known what I was going to be when I was 11, I would have been happy with that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babs Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 dh a pro football player...I am an attorney and he plays football with our many boys http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/images/smilies/001_smile.gif Would I do it over? No!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soph the vet Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I wanted to be a vet, I'm about as close as you can get without being one. I've wanted to be a vet since I was 4...and I am one....and I love it and being a SAHM...BUT...true confessions, now I want to be REMUDAMOM:001_huh:....she has horses....and alas I do not:glare:! :lol::lol::lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wendi Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 I have always loved animals. I've really enjoyed this year I've spent working with rabbits at the shelter. Wendi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Me - an archaeologist thanks to The Greek Treasure by Irving Stone. Hubby - a farmer. What we ended up with was a big garden so we get to dig in the dirt and every once in a while I find a bone. :glare: Janet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 :w00t: He tends to think outside of the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockermom Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Space shuttle pilot (yes, an astronaut... but I specifically wanted to pilot). It's weird, my favorite game was to "teach" my dolls and stuffed animals anything and everything I learned in school. I had a blackboard and made desks for them and used old Avon books (my mom sells) so that they would all have the same "text" to learn from. I wonder why I never thought I wanted to be a teacher?... I'll have to ask DH. We may have discussed it before, but I don't remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 Dh wanted to be a giraffe. I almost fell off my chair at that one! :D LOVE that answer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 When I was a kid, all I wanted to be was a wife and mother. When I was attending a Bible college, I wanted to be a missionary in Costa Rica. When I hit my early 20s, I wanted to be a surgeon. In the end I became an accountant, college professor, attorney -- and finally, a wife and mother! RC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted June 21, 2008 Share Posted June 21, 2008 At 13, I was pretty sure I would be a professional musician or music teacher. That was the idea until my senior year in high school, when I *knew* I was going to become a communications major, probably attend law school and work on Capitol Hill... I'm a writer :D My dh wanted to be a USN fighter pilot. Almost made it too. Instead he fulfilled his father's dreams and worked on a ship taking him all over the world. Today, he's managing those ships stateside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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