Ever watch your child do something and suddenly something clicks and you feel like you’re getting a glimpse of what he or she might be when they’re all grown up? It happened a few years ago (see the first installment of When I Grow Up, which I published two years ago, almost exactly to the day. Eerie.).
And it happened again with Buddy on Monday.
It’s kind of random, but he has always loved watching my HGTV shows with me. The two of would binge on “House Hunters” when I was home on maternity leave with Mimi. Scary thing is that he was usually 99% accurate when predicting which house they would buy.
Then the two of us were watching “Love It or List It” on Monday when we were home for the MLK Holiday, and all of sudden he started making these preternaturally wise and knowledgeable comments about the couple’s existing house that interior designer Hilary was attempting to renovate and breathe new life into.
He pointed out that the kitchen cabinets were too light, that they needed to be white or really dark. (Check.)
He said he didn’t like the random brick around the front doorway, that he thought some wood would look better. (I’m personally partial to brick, but I see his point).
He cheered when the wife told Hilary that she definitely wanted to keep the sunporch.
And he gasped when he saw the couple’s bathroom with it’s wall of floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto a private forest. “That is amazing,” he declared (even though I’d personally feel just a wee bit self-conscious getting undressed in front of a wall of windows).
Meanwhile, after every comment, I’d catch Dr. G’s eye as if to say, Um, did he really just say that?
He eventually jumped up and announced he was going to design a mid-century home (what the heck is that anyway?) and returned with his sketch book and pencil.
And designed this.
It was like watching a future architect at work. (Although I’m not sure what that thing that looks like a bird’s beak is in the front lawn.)
And then it hit me. His obsession with LEGOs. His interest in building and designing and anything involving engineering. His love of drawing and sketching, which I’m not ashamed to admit has already surpassed my own feeble attempts. His years-long interest in these home shows.
Maybe I was really was watching a future architect at work.
Yes, he’s only 9, and when you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he’ll still answer “Paleobiologist.” (Which is “a science that draws dominantly from geology, paleontology, and biology.” Trust me, I had to look it up.)
And how many times have we all changed our own answers to the question of “What do you want to be when you grow up?” (Although, in the interest of full disclosure, I did state I wanted to be a writer starting at age 10. And here I am with a blog, 30 years later. Weird, right? Hmmm, so maybe a career in paleobiology really is in the cards).
But I really did feel like I was witnessing something that day with Buddy. A spark? An awakening? A glimpse?
Who knows what the future may hold, and obviously I will love and support my son whether he grows up to be an architect or a teacher or a police officer or a circus clown. But either way, I hope he continues to pursue all his passions with the same gusto, and I will move heaven and earth to help him make the most of his potential, wherever it may lay.
Although having a kid who could design me a retirement beach house might come in handy someday. #justsayin
Rachel Hanson says
I love getting these little glimpses! Elizabeth is only 2 and I get these looks periodically and I just love it, even if it makes me a little bit sad.