My daughter wants to be a garbage truck driver when grow up, What can I do to support her dream? - Cykapu

My daughter wants to be a garbage truck driver when grow up, What can I do to support her dream?

My daughter says she wants to be a garbage truck driver when she grows up. I think it's great.

In New York, household waste is left on the side of the road at a set time and then picked up by garbage trucks. One day, Lily witnessed the process of hauling garbage by a truck and became very interested in it.

And then whenever she could, she would say, "Mom, let's go look at the garbage truck." As a result, we spend most of our walking time looking for or waiting for garbage trucks to pass by. No matter how many times Lily watched it, every time she watched it with relish and rapt attention.

One weekend morning, the first thing she said when she woke up was, Mom, I want to be a garbage truck driver when I grow up!

In my first year on the job, my career advisor once asked me, "What career do you want?" At that time, I answered with a puzzled face, what do you mean? I am currently working as a personnel specialist (my first rotation position).

It was then that I first understood the difference between Career and work. Career is the calling of your heart. the realization of your own values indicates that career is the realization of your personal values, not merely a matter of survival.

As a mother, and with my own childhood experience, it is clear to me that the foundation of a career outlook begins when a child proudly shares with us for the first time what she wants to be when she grows up. We don't need to choose for our children, but we need to encourage and protect their desire to choose, and more importantly, we need to help our children understand the skills and qualities that underlie these careers.

That day, I responded to Lily's "career statement" with enthusiasm, "Wow, this is a really interesting career." Then I started trying to guide her through the profession. "Do you know what a garbage truck driver does? What kind of person can be a garbage truck driver?"

"I don't know, Mom. Do you think I can do it?" Obviously, she never considered my two questions. After that, my mother and I started a series of conversations about it.

I asked Lily before observed mainly do garbage truck driver, I told her, to become a qualified garbage truck driver, need a strong physique, need to be very focus to drive safely, you also need to have very keen observation, can be found around the streets of garbage, most important of all, need to have a heart to help you.

After that day, Lily's understanding of the garbage truck driver came alive. She rarely goes on to say "I want to be a garbage truck driver," and more often asks, "Can I focus more by doing this? Will these make me stronger?" .

At the same time, I started to buy some picture books and toys about careers, and I started to show her that there are different kinds of careers in the world. And more importantly, she has come to understand what skills are needed behind each career.

To maintain social security, a police officer needs to be brave, have a sense of justice and run well (the last point was added by Lily herself, which I think is quite reasonable). Doctors are to save people, need a person to have a lot of knowledge, a lot of love; Cooks are good for everyone to eat, need to have a very keen taste and smell, need to cherish food; An actor should not only be beautiful, but also have a strong ability to understand and feel different people's moods and emotions.

These conversations happen now and then in our house, some of which Lily makes up, most of which I tell her after she asks me. It's not going to be completely correct,  but that's okay, it's more important to have a meaningful discussion.

Through such thoughtful discussions, Lily will gradually form her self-cognition of various professions and take certain qualities and skills as the driving force for her growth and progress. More importantly, I believe that she will become more and more clear about what she likes, what she wants and what she wants to do when she grows up.

Education should light up the desire of the heart. I let Lily begin to be interested in various professions, and I protected her curiosity to further explore what she does in various professions.

Education should provide more possibilities. I did not judge Lily's current "career choice" based on my own or secular standards. I just told her what her current choice meant and showed her the existence of other choices.

Education should provide constant nourishment, so that children can know with certainty that their thoughts are valuable and can confidently speak their true thoughts without being suppressed or judged.

Every parent hopes that their children will have a good job in the future, but for me, career view is the soil, parents are the weather, the soil is ready, the weather does not slow down, and the trees and flowers that grow on the land eventually, that is the child's nature and independent choice.

There are so many things in this world, aren't there? Only wish each child is not distorted and depressed, but can be wanton growth according to their own inner strength.
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Author: Steven Ting

Cofounder of www.cykapu.com, father of two children. As a man over 30, only write the thing i am interesting in.