Houston, we have an astronaut….

My seven year old daughter has many interests that she really doesn’t know what to do. She wants to ride horses, play piano, paint, teach, and fly a rocket. I guess she has been thinking about it seriously and day before yesterday she simply told me “Daddy I know what I want to do when I grow up”.

“I want to be an Astronaut and nothing else”. I double-checked by asking, “are you sure honey, do you not want to paint?” so she replied, “no daddy, this is it. I want to be an astronaut”. We knew she has this interest so Mom had ordered a scholastic book to learn about astronauts and space and they just arrived yesterday.

Needless to say our conversations around the dining table and during the bedtime have been centered on becoming an astronaut. I have been telling her about all the requirements of becoming an astronaut.

“Lydia you need to be very good in Maths”

“I know, I know and I am already good at it, I can count 1-100 forward and backward” replied Lydia.

“You’re so good Lydia, but I think you need to be able to count up to 1000 forward and backward”

We also talked about different challenges in the space. “You know you can’t do titi and poopy in the potty? In space everything floats”. Perplexed child wanted to know “Daddy then how do people do titi and poopy in the space?” “I think they have to use tubes, bags and wet wipes”

“By the way honey, you can’t eat boogers in the space because by the time you get them out, they might start floating and might go into someone else’s mouth”. She got the message and quickly pulled her finger out of her nose.

Mom patiently read the scholastic book to Lydia and before she fell asleep my baby said “Daddy I can’t wait to be an astronaut”.

“Me too honey” said I.

Ruby