Making Heroes

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.
Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

I sat outside with Jungle Boy last night and we discussed ballet classes for the tenth time this week.

Me: "I think nine dance classes a week is a lot. And now you want to audition for Nutcracker too?"

Jungle Boy (grinning): "Yeah! Then I'd be doing ballet six days a week instead of five!"

Me: "Do you see yourself doing this when you're grown up?"

JB: "I haven't thought about it."

Me: "Do you see yourself doing it in college?"

JB: "I haven't thought about it."

Me: "Do you see yourself doing it in high school?"

JB: "I haven't thought about it."

And then I realized. I visualize my children's lives and futures constantly, but at this age, they still live in a blissful bubble where the only time that exists is now. Along with freedom from worrying about his future though, I see that he doesn't see the need for any plans for his future either.

What he does know, is that dancing gives him joy. It is all he wants to do. And while he can't tell me any names of any kids he's met at his new middle school, he can rattle off the names of all the willowy teenage girls in the advanced class he's taking.

So while I wanted to tell him that he needs to think ahead, and plan his life so that he will be the hero of it, I refrained. I don't know if he'd understand what I mean.

And he already is a hero in my book.

My meaning simply is, that whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do well; that whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely; that in great aims and in small, I have always been thoroughly in earnest.
Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

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Responses to comments from yesterday: Photo Tour

Denise, woo-hoo is right. I'm so grateful that our schools have daily band and orchestra options. Carol, I'm the queen of unfinished quilts I think. That's why I always do the happy dance when I do get one done. belinda, in the old days, accomplished girls always had a stack of quilt tops in their hope chest. We'll just call you retro-cool. leezee52 congratulations on being featured on The Secret is in the Sauce! I'm impressed that you're visiting all of your visitors. angie, anything my kids can't do? HA! Cleaning their rooms comes to mind. Eileen, I need a photo editor like that! How clever. I can't even remember where I got that platter, but I love it. *TONYA* Thank you for the award!! I can't believe you're going to go read all the old posts you missed. You might be my biggest fan. Anissa Mayhew, I agree, she's way cooler at age 10 than I have ever been. Sort of Lisa Simpson smart cool. Melanie, I didn't realize sax is so hard. They had to try out all the band instruments and were scored on their ability on each, and she did really well on the sax, so I guess it's a good fit for her. All those buttons look intimidating to me.