a promise to my daughter

lately, we've been going to classes with other children her age and it's easing the guilt of making her stay home with me every day and depriving her of playing with other kids (you should see how excited she gets every time she sees another baby). i'm also killing two birds with one stone here as i've always said that i'm going to expose my children to as much as humanly possible until they find that thing that makes them tick. the idea of finding your element has always been something that i've been passionate about and thought about often but not until recently did it surface into a downright mission. partly because i recently attended a talk where sir ken robinson re-inspired me to go on an element quest for both myself and my daughter. 

so i'm going to start with the basics, taking her to swim, music and dance classes all the while carefully observing her to find her natural interests. she's only 7 months but so far these things tend to light her up:

• babies
• plants/flowers
• anything that she can shake that makes noise
• whistling
• water

So based on these interests my daughter might become the following:

• a teacher/pediatric nurse
• a horticulturalist
• a musician (perhaps a professional rumba shaker)
• a participant in the international whistling convention (it exists! watch here) 
• a mermaid! 

The thought of her growing up and discovering her interests and contributing to society makes me so elated with joy! 

Whatever she decides to be, she has already made her mommy so proud but the tricky part is obviously finding what makes her happy. finding a passion can be so very hard (nearly impossible for some people) but i never want her to feel passionless. i never want her to be unhappy with her career decisions and i never want her to ever feel uninspired. it is my personal promise to my daughter to always support her passions (even if they're unconventional and odd, be weird baby!) and to always remind her that: 

"every single one of us is a miracle, it's a miracle that we are all born and walk this earth, so do something with your miracle!" -- sir ken robinson 

and here a couple from ina's recent passion hunts...at her first swim class and her first music circle