When I picked Anna up at school yesterday they told me she'd had a splinter about a third of an inch long stuck in her hand. It took her teacher over 20 minutes to dig it out using tweezers and then a needle. He said he was pale and clammy by the end of the procedure. Anna on the other hand was fascinated by the whole thing. Apparently she would guide him by saying 'that hurts Jason' but she was so engrossed by the anatomy of the surgery that she was detached from the pain. Or so they said. 'She's remarkable' they added, 'we've never had a kid who's more likely to become a doctor'.
Yeah, or a psychopath. I thought.
In all seriousness though, I still remember the terror of my Mum and Dad digging out a splinter, the smell of 'surgical spirit' and fear mixing in the air. Anna has inherited her lack of squeamishness from my Mum. Maybe from LK's side too, I don't know, the only thing I've seen them tested with is a 10lb diaper change. Anna is a born scientist. Who likes to wear pink. A chic geek.
I retold the story to LK when he got home, including the part about medical school. 'Sounds like she's going to college in England!' was his reply. 'Or we need to start saving', 'yeah, with our ante-money'. Anna chimed in 'I don't want to be a doctor, I want to be a dentist or a veterinarian'. Thanks Anna, much cheaper.
As an aside, a brief what the fuck (WTF) America? Abbreviations are to Americans as queues as to the British. They can't get enough of them. Why then do they insist on saying 'veterinarian'. I mean honestly, I'm exhausted from just typing it. They say 'pk' for penalty kick, 'c-section' for cesarian section and 'ra' for rheumatoid arthritis, yet they can't say vet? Do you really think a vet-er-i-nar-i-an and a veteran will somehow be confused? Bizarre. The same holds true for re-frig-e-ra-tor. I lose my appetite by the time I've said it. For a country that loves it's acronyms both of these words seem unfeasibly long.
Back to Anna. 'I want to be a dentist. But only on Mondays'.
Apparently this is to be her schedule:
Monday: Dentist/Vet
Tuesday: Detective
Wednesday: A hunter with my Dad. He can do the running. ?????
Thursday: Bug detective & scientist
Friday: Flower shop owner
Saturday: The world's top person knowing things about birds.
Sunday: Family day! With horses. And an archaeologist like Dora. Do I have enough days?
No wonder we're having a hard time finding the right school! I know nobody grows up wanting to be a systems analyst or an insurance claims adjuster, but I have to admit I'm pretty impressed and proud of this list.
You go girl, we'll do the best we can.
Love Mum x
9 comments:
I love this. I wish I'd had the foresight to pick multiple careers instead of just focusing on one dead-end one. :)
With that kind of ambition, maybe she will grow up to be president, but only on Tuesdays.
Please tell Anna that I am happy to run her flower shop for her Saturday through to Thursday. S xx
to quote what one of my teachers once wrote about me, "I detect in Anna a catholic intellect"! Oh, to be that age again and see so many possibilities!
Good for her!! I have a good friend whose daughter is quite sure she'll have multiple different occupations...and I'm betting she really will! Smart, ambitious, funny, kiddos!
This is wonderful. I can hardly wait until my daughters begin deciding what they want to be. At the moment they can't even decide on names for their baby dolls or toy horses. And I love the different-career-each-day approach. Something I might have considered!
Ambitious and very brave. Nice combo! Our oldest was always fascinated by medical personnel and techniques. But in the last couple years (6 to 8) the fear of the needle has dampened that. Hell with a flying car, I'm waiting for technology to leave needles behind. Come on Star Trek style injectors!
If you say 'vet' to an American, they think you mean 'veteran', as in 'war veteran'. I think that's the problem. I have had that comment made to me when I was writing for an American audience.
I love that list - so wonderful that she's got so many great things she enthuses about
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