I’m a firm believer that we should encourage our kids to dream-within reason that is. Tyler somehow got it into his head that he was going to open a restaurant when we return to New Orleans. He even created his own menu. I played along with him promising that I would help him out by being his assistant manager. He drafted my sister to come to New Orleans on her days off from the nursing home where she works. Her job was going to be head waitress.
Because I know that Tyler has a tendency to obsess I decided I should make sure that he realized that this was a dream and certainly not realistic as a goal for a six-year-old. At this point, he informed me that he was indeed serious and had every intention of opening his restaurant. I wasn’t sure if he was actually serious or trying to pull one over on me. I decided not to take any chances so I explained to him that although owning a restaurant was a dream worth pursuing; it wasn’t a reasonable goal for a six-year-old.
He then became irate and starting crying and basically blaming me for not allowing him to pursue his dream. It broke my heart because he really seemed to believe that he could open a restaurant. I have always told him that he can do anything he puts his mind to but it didn’t occur to me that I needed to discuss the practicality of his goal. No matter how I tried to cajole him he became more and more upset. He even told my sister that I wasn’t going to let him open his restaurant. No matter that he wasn’t old enough to open one (not to mention the fact that we don’t have the money to get this venture off the ground!).
Let your kids dare to dream. In most cases, they won’t dream of lofty unattainable goals. And kids bounce back quickly without too many scars. We arrived today in New Orleans and we will be here for a few days. When we arrived I was concerned that he would revisit the restaurant idea. Fortunately, he was so taken with the brand new hotel we’re staying in— he seems to have forgotten all about it!
See also:
Teaching Kids to Be More Creative
Perks of Public Education: C= Creativity