Ambition

Eden is putting a scrapbook together. It has stickers, which is enough to get any small girl excited. Each sticker suggests a topic or a heading for different sections of the scrapbook. We come to a heading, "When I grow up, I want to be a...." Eden thinks about it for a minute, a frown wrinkling her otherwise perfectly pale brow. "You know what, Mummy? I wanna be a book-maker!" she announces gleefully, a twinkle in her eye. It takes me a moment to realise what she is saying. "Aah, do you mean you want to make books?"I suggest. "Yeah, just like you, Mum," she replies. Phew, not the other thing, then. Really, she has no idea what a shrewd analogy she just drew, but apart from that I feel thrilled that she is inspired by what I do for a living. I know, I know, kids ALWAYS want to copy what their parents do when they're only 5 and still think you're the best thing since sliced bread. But wanting to be an inspiration to my daughters is one of the things that keeps me working. I want them to know that being a woman - and especially being a mother - need not stop them from having their own aspirations, passions and achievements outside of the home. And just as long as there's still time to stick scrapbooks together with our children, why not?