I just got back from a Geek Girl dinner at Google headquarters. It was nice, but one little part that stuck was by an Indian panelist who expressed how "my mom wanted the best for me and my sisters. She was constantly urging us to aim high." (The comment loses it's power in the retelling -- you had to be there.)
The comment shifted my thinking a little. This morning when the fluffy-headed little Aee emerged from her room asking for me to replace the batteries in one of her toys, instead of saying, "Sure, in a minute" (which comes all too naturally). Instead, I reached over to my purse and pulled out a mini screwdriver so we could open the toy together and replace the batteries together. I knew she was good with electronics, but it was sheer joy watching her wield that little screwdriver and without a blink of hesitation do the lefty-loosely, pull out batteries, insert batteries checking for proper orientation, then righty-tighty.
I have no idea where Aee's future interests will lie. For now, she's rounding out all sorts of abilities that will bolster her in the future.
I have given a lot of thought to what I want for her. The current vision is that I want her to:
* have ample opportunity to develop abilities
* be surrounded by supportive, helpful people
* develop a solid sense of self-chosen direction
For this particular little kid at this particular point in time, those are the items at the top of the list.
