What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?

It is March! My birthday month, and today is the start of my birthday week! I will be changing my profile soon, rolling the 5 in 35 over to a 6. Ah... on the heavy side of my thirties. My birthday has me thinking about what I want to be when I grow up. I realize that I am already a successful attorney and isn't that what we mean when we ask people what they want to be when they grow up? Over the years, I have struggled to free the essence of Carrie, and I think, when I grow up, I want to be that girl... free from insecurities, free from the cages of others words or deeds, free from the struggles of second-guessing who I am and I want to wake up each morning thankful for the love and respect I feel for myself. It doesn't seem like it would be that difficult a thing to do, yet, it might be the hardest thing in the world.

I'd also like to be a wonderful friend, an appreciative daughter, a fantastic sister, a hard-working philanthropist, a novelist, a spiritual director and the best mother to my kids that I possibly can be. And one day, I might even want to take another stab at being a loving wife.

I asked Paige what she wanted to be when she grew up and she said, "I want to be a Doctor." (Okay, that's awesome!) I said, "You have to go to school for a long time, you know that, right?" And she rolled her eyes and said, "I have."

When I asked Tony the same question, he answered without a split second's hesitation: "A dog."

Is that not the perfect answer? After I stopped giggling, I started re-thinking my aspirations.