How to Be Somebody - Age 4

Okay quick funny story that I had to share about my 4 year old Jackson. He has always been a talker, question asker, and overall thinker. Yesterday when I picked him up from school he was building this tower which he told me was "3 bedrooms (no mommy - not stories) high, with a small castle on that, and then the statue of liberty on top". Very creative, I thought to myself...then as we were driving home we proceeded to talk about the new class he is in with the kindergarten teacher (she is teaching the older pre-k kids this year) which he thinks is BIG time. We passed by one of the local high schools and he said that once he finished Ms. Nina's class, he would go to high school. "No sweetie, first you will go to elementary school", I politely corrected. "And then I go to high school?" "No actually then you go to middle school - like the one right by our house" "Oh yeah....and THEN I go to high school?!". As a mom who will take any opportunity to plant the seed of higher education I added "And then...you will go to college". To which he so sweetly added "yeah mommy I'm gonna go to college and THEN I'm gonna BE somebody." (long pause while I smile to myself and mentally pat my husband and I on the back for creating this obvious love of education in our son. Maybe the tower he built today means he wants to be an architect - maybe the next Frank Lloyd Wright - I was swelling with pride at the thought). And then, as a four year old probably should...he brought me back down from my parental cloud nine and said "I'm gonna really be somebody....like....a race car driver". Hmmm....now in the past he has said that he wanted to do things like be a doctor, a physical therapist like daddy, a vet, but no...today it was - race car driver. Being a thoughtful (and I'll admit tired) mommy, I decided to spare him the discussion that it isn't like the movie Cars and about how only a very small handful of drivers make any kind of money at that "profession". No I thought I would let him be 4 for the day.... since being 4 means that I'm sure his mind will change tomorrow. That is to say it will change back to the other oh so likely professions he has chosen... football player, drummer, baseball player, etc. Ah what it means to "be somebody" at age 4.