Unprompted, Griffin announced in the car tonight that he wants to grow up to be either a musician or an illustrator. (I’ll include a post soon with some of the pictures he’s drawn in his new notebook; he’s very excited about it.)
Maggie proceeded to announce that she wants to be one of three things: a dolphin trainer, a singer, or a dancer.
(For comparison, see what Griffin said in 2013 and both of them in 2016.)
For years we have despaired that our children would grow up to be shiftless, unmotivated drones. Fortunately, for at least the past six months, they have settled onto a pair of robust dreams for the future. Maggie will be an astronaut. Griffin, who is less excited about the discomforts of space travel, will be a space scientist, staying on the ground but helping Maggie with her experiments.
Listening to the radio on Memorial Day, Griffin asked me what a soldier was. I explained, as best I could. Griffin was silent for a while, and then announced:
I don’t want to be a soldier. I think I would like to be a scientist. In space.
A few days later, on June 1, we were biking and stopped to look at the falls by the old Ford hydro plant. After watching for a bit, Griffin said:
Maybe when I’m a adult I won’t go to space, maybe I’ll be a waterfall tester.
In a subsequent conversation, Griffin explains waterfall testing in more detail:
A waterfall tester uses a screen like an x-ray to make sure the blades are turning.