When They Grow Up

Every now and again,
I ask my kiddos what they want to be when they grow up.

It is interesting to see what stays constant
and what drops away
and especially with my 12 year old, Kate,
what begins to crystallize in her mind
as she moves from fantasy
("a Ballerina!" when she doesn't take ballet)
to a more accurate view of who she is
and what her strengths are.

So, this is the Feb 2008 version of
"What do you want to be when you grow up":

Trey (6)

a vet
a zookeeper
a pilot.

Commentary- I can actually see him doing something with animals. He has been interested in them his whole life- was never into balls or trucks but animals, bugs and dinosaurs.

Chris (9)

a "builder"
a lawyer
something else which, darn it, completely escapes me right now.

Commentary- He has said builder since he was tiny. He seems unable to decide whether that would be as an architect type or an actually construction worker. I find this whole thing very interesting because he is not a Lego/builder kind of kid at all.
Also, a lawyer? We'll see how he develops but he is a non-aggressive, non confrontational kind of kid who is prone to crying in stressful situations. Not good lawyer material yet!
This was the first year he didn't aim to be a baseball player.

Kate (12)

teacher
social worker
lawyer

Commentary- I can actually and truly see Kate being any of these things and being very good at them. She is an organizer, fairly bossy (to put in kindly), driven, an excellent negotiator and she has a heart for helping people in need or in distress...always. She is one of the most compassionate people I have ever met. I can see her working in the field of adoption, either in social work or law, very clearly.
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Lingonberries.
This word has apparently struck fear and wonder
in the hearts of many who read my Menu Plan Monday.
Fear not, dear readers,
here's the info you need:
is a staple food in Scandinavian cuisine. Because lingonberries are plentiful in the poor forested areas of the inland, and the jam is easy to prepare, has exceptionally good keeping qualities, and is a source of vitamin C, it has always been very popular with all kinds of plain food such as kroppkakor, pitepalt, potato cake, kåldolmar and blood sausage. Today, it is served both as jam, with cereal or pancakes, and as a relish with meat courses such as Swedish meatballs, beef stew, liver dishes, and regionally even fried herring. It has also been used to sweeten the traditional oatmeal porridge. It is less commonly used as marmalade on toast and as a topping on vanilla ice cream. It is very good in a cream cheese and lingonberry jam sandwich.

Fine lingonberry jam is prepared only with berries, sugar and a small amount of water. Cheaper varieties are diluted with apples and/or pectin. The natural benzoic acid of the berries makes artificial preservatives unnecessary. Very fine jam is prepared fresh by just mixing berries and sugar without cooking.

Lingonberry jam has been popularized in America by the well-known IKEA superstores where it is sold in large quantities, including buckets.

(Thank you to wikipedia.com for that info!)


Make it a great day, everyone!