When I grow up I want to be a...
The plan versus reality!
When I grow up I want to be a...
As children we used to be fascinated by what our parents and other adults did for a living. However mundane jobs were not what we dreamt about; instead we wanted to be glamorous/famous/heroic. Unfortunately not everyone is destined for greatness.
Ballerina
Dream – The pretty pink outfits, the chance to get our hair and make up done for the stage and Darcey Bussell as our role model; what’s not to love. Our ballet lessons were the highlight of our week and it would take much persuasion to get us out of our tutus when we got home.
Reality – Even if we had the dance skills our bodies were never going to meet the desired dimensions.
Astronaught
Dream - Once we got our heads around the fact that the moon was not in fact a lump of cheese and it could be visited, we wanted to be the one onboard the next rocket. Though famous for the line ‘Houston, we have a problem’ (which doesn’t fill you with ease) Apollo 13 was the film that inspired our dreams of space travel.
Reality – Of the 6000 that apply to NASA only 8 people make it through, probably better luck to try the lottery.
Gymnast
Dream - Our favourite event at the Olympics, even if the rest of the family used to enjoy anxiously hoping for someone to trip on the beam or fly off the parallel bars we were deciding which event was going to be our forte. We even robbed the ribbons from our mum’s sewing kit and danced around the room with them.
Reality – Thankfully our gymnastic lessons never got more exciting than frog leaping over the vaulting horse; if we’d have been let near anything else we could have done ourselves a serious injury.
Movie Star
Dream - From the moment we were cast as the lead in the school play we were convinced that every time the phone rang it could be a top Hollywood talent scout. We even had a show reel on VHS ready to hand over.
Reality – Fortunately we didn’t realise at the time that the cheers and shouts for an encore at the yearly Christmas pantomime were going to be as good as it got.
Jockey
Dream – Our favourite childhood books were all about horse riding. We would spend hours prancing around the garden on our hobby horse dressed up in all the gear and we truly believed that one day we would be the proud owner of stacks of silverware.
Reality – When we reached the right age for our parents to buy us lessons everything changed, the horse had a mind of it’s own and the minute we started to trot we felt like we were on a buckaroo. It didn’t take long for us to decide to stick to our stories.
Popstar
Dream – Kylie Minogue made the transition from mechanic on Neighbours to international pop sensation look so easy and on top of that we had a much coveted spot in the school choir – next stop superstardom.
Reality – Even if our cassette tape recording was heard by a record company exec we would have been lucky if they listened for more than ten seconds. Thank goodness X Factor was non existent otherwise we could have humiliated ourselves publicly.
Ballerina
Dream – The pretty pink outfits, the chance to get our hair and make up done for the stage and Darcey Bussell as our role model; what’s not to love. Our ballet lessons were the highlight of our week and it would take much persuasion to get us out of our tutus when we got home.
Reality – Even if we had the dance skills our bodies were never going to meet the desired dimensions.
Astronaught
Dream - Once we got our heads around the fact that the moon was not in fact a lump of cheese and it could be visited, we wanted to be the one onboard the next rocket. Though famous for the line ‘Houston, we have a problem’ (which doesn’t fill you with ease) Apollo 13 was the film that inspired our dreams of space travel.
Reality – Of the 6000 that apply to NASA only 8 people make it through, probably better luck to try the lottery.
Gymnast
Dream - Our favourite event at the Olympics, even if the rest of the family used to enjoy anxiously hoping for someone to trip on the beam or fly off the parallel bars we were deciding which event was going to be our forte. We even robbed the ribbons from our mum’s sewing kit and danced around the room with them.
Reality – Thankfully our gymnastic lessons never got more exciting than frog leaping over the vaulting horse; if we’d have been let near anything else we could have done ourselves a serious injury.
Movie Star
Dream - From the moment we were cast as the lead in the school play we were convinced that every time the phone rang it could be a top Hollywood talent scout. We even had a show reel on VHS ready to hand over.
Reality – Fortunately we didn’t realise at the time that the cheers and shouts for an encore at the yearly Christmas pantomime were going to be as good as it got.
Jockey
Dream – Our favourite childhood books were all about horse riding. We would spend hours prancing around the garden on our hobby horse dressed up in all the gear and we truly believed that one day we would be the proud owner of stacks of silverware.
Reality – When we reached the right age for our parents to buy us lessons everything changed, the horse had a mind of it’s own and the minute we started to trot we felt like we were on a buckaroo. It didn’t take long for us to decide to stick to our stories.
Popstar
Dream – Kylie Minogue made the transition from mechanic on Neighbours to international pop sensation look so easy and on top of that we had a much coveted spot in the school choir – next stop superstardom.
Reality – Even if our cassette tape recording was heard by a record company exec we would have been lucky if they listened for more than ten seconds. Thank goodness X Factor was non existent otherwise we could have humiliated ourselves publicly.
What did you want to be when you were little?
Anything unusual?
Written by Irish mummy blogger Jennie Dennehey.
Check out her brilliant blog at www.mummyvstheworld.com, like her great page on Facebook hereor follow her on Twitter
Check out her brilliant blog at www.mummyvstheworld.com, like her great page on Facebook hereor follow her on Twitter
