Children May Predict

Perhaps what children do may predict what they will be when they grow up. Of course, they may do conflicting things and parents may never assess the possibilities. But in retrospect, something our two older children did might indicate something in that regard.

One very hot summer day our oldest boy was misbehaving and I put him in the backyard and locked the door on him. He promptly climbed onto the roof of the house and turned off the air-conditioner, the swamp cooler type popular in those days. He grew up to be a civil engineer and traveled the world in being so.

When our only daughter was very young, three or four perhaps, Margaret Chugg, a lady who had been her baby-sitter the first year I taught school, dropped in one rainy afternoon to see if Susan might like to walk to the grocery store with her. Susan loved and trusted Margaret, as did I, for she was an absolutely perfect baby-sitter. Margaret wore clear plastic galoshes and carried an umbrella. While I went to get Susan’s coat and little matching hat, Susan disappeared. We found her, sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor, trying to put plastic bags over her shoes. She grew up to be an artist and international fashion model.

You never know.

♥