He followed me into the kitchen as if he had something important to tell me...
- Dad, I want to be a writer.
- Cool, I said.
I’m not one of those people who dump their own dreams and expectations on to their children. I want him to do whatever he wants to do. The cliché follows...as long as he’s happy.
So I left the conversation at that.
A few days later...
- Dad, did I tell you I wanted to be a writer?
- Yeah, buddy. That’s pretty cool. What do you want to write?
He gave me the title of something that he’s been thinking about. First it was going to be a movie, then a cartoon, then an X-box game. Now it’s going to be a book. We have franchise possibilities here, people and that’s why I’m not providing the title. You just never know.
- That sounds excellent, son. When you going to start it?
- Eh...he says and pauses. He thinks awhile. Like it hadn’t occurred to him that work had to be done and the thing had to be started. He answers - Soon.
- Can I give you some advice, buddy?
- Sure, after all, dad you’re world famous and very successful (ok, he didn’t say that EXACTLY. I’m paraphrasing...in a wish fulfilment kinda way.)
- Well, to be a writer, you’ve got to read a lot.
- I think I want to be a businessman then.
- Why are you thinking about this just now? You’ve just turned 12.
- I can’t live with you or my mum forever. I need to be able to have enough money to buy a flat of my own.
- Again. You’re 12. There’s plenty of time to think about this.
He pats my hand
– You need to plan, dad. Stuff just doesn’t happen on its own.
Who is putting this stuff in his head? I blame the cartoons. Full of all kinds of nonsense.
as an ex teacher I sometimes think this new generation of kids is all practical and power-thirsty :))
ReplyDeleteyeah, Dezmond - and if they have the work ethic to go along with it, watch out!
ReplyDeletemichael, first: LOVE THE HAIRY COW! i'm stealing the pix. tanx
ReplyDeletesecond: discourage him constantly from being a writer. no money in it, etc etc. JK Rowling's parents did the same thing...
and tell him, not only should he have a plan, he also needs a plan b
Thea, first: you can have the hairy cow. We have loads of them in Scotland. Second: he knows there's no money in it -he's always disappointed when asking for his allowance.
ReplyDeleteI think comment from me is superfluous. You know already that the wee man's my role model. The sooner he gets his own blog the better. Nice posting, Michael.
ReplyDeleteeaster holidays coming up, Bill. I'm sure he'll have plenty of lessons for me.
ReplyDelete