Life
I spend a lot of time watching my kids, dreaming about their futures, and trying not to project my own hopes. Will they be doctors, dancers, artists, Supreme Court Justices, or none of the above? Will their greatest talent turn into their calling, or will the thing that annoys me most about them enable their future success? After all, calling my daughter "bossy" is just another way of saying she has "leadership skills." If you ask me, however, I'd have to say my kid is going to be a best-selling author some day.
Sure, if you ask for her opinion she's going to tell you she'll be an engineer or princess, or a vampire princess witch (which, incidentally, was also her Halloween costume last year). But, if you look at the other signs – her talents, skills, areas of interest, and attitude – she's definitely bound to be a writer like her mother.
I am not sure if she'll write fiction or non-fiction. On one side, she shows so much artistic talent and creativity that I sometimes wonder if she's my child. She loves pretend play and making up stories. She's a prolific liar and seems to enjoy pulling a fast one on both her siblings (and her parents) much to our dismay. She has strong opinions about the plot lines and holes of the books she reads and movies she watches, always having ideas about how to make them better or more realistic. Perhaps the most telling, however; she's super intense and emotional and constantly feeling things to the very core of her tiny, artistic being.
On the other hand, she's also extremely persuasive and a bit of a know-it-all. She craves to learn about how things work and will tell you endlessly about what she learns; whether you want to hear about it or not. She has the same drive for gaining knowledge that caused me to sit in front of the bookshelf of World Book Encyclopedias in our dining room, and look up topics from A to Z, when I was her age. That drive to learn, paired with passion for sharing new-found knowledge with others, might just make her the next self-help guru or scientific mastermind.
Whether she becomes the next J.K. Rowling, Margaret Atwood, Carl Sagan, or Deepak Chopra, my daughter shows clear signs that she has the potential to be a best-selling author someday.
She's Creative
OMG is she creative. She can turn just about any household object into a piece of art, or instantly make up a detailed story about the family of squirrels that live in our attic.
She Loves Pretend Play
Whether it's pretending to be superheroes coming to save the day, dressing up in homemade costumes, or a creating a game about a family of mermaids; pretend play is one of her favorite pastimes.
She Is Bossy
She is so bossy. I mean, um, assertive and strong. Who am I kidding, she loves to be in charge. I have no idea where she gets that from (OK, OK, I am bossy, too). She loves to create stories, games and plays, in part (I think) because then she gets to be in charge of an entire universe of characters. Definitely has some awesome leadership skills.
She's A Great Liar
She lies all of the time, and will try to lie about just about everything from whether or not she brushed her teeth to what really happened on the playground after school.
Most of the time, her lies aren't malicious in nature. I think she just lies to keep herself and others out of trouble or to see if she can get away with it.
She's Intense
She has a high level of intensity about everything. She feels emotions on a deep level and sometimes we have to work with her to take things down a notch. I imagine that being able to channel these emotions and intensity into her life's work will make her an amazing author.
She's Relentless
She really won't take "no" for an answer, which will give her amazing skill at working with publishers and editors to get her work accepted and published. They will agree to whatever it is they send her just to stop her from contacting them again.
She Loves To Read
She really loves to read and hear stories. Her drive to learn, but also her interest in characters and why they do the things they do, will make her an amazing author.
She's A Know-It-All
She loves to tell me and others when we are wrong (even if we aren't) and how to do things the right way. She would relish the opportunity to share her opinions with the world, not because she's self-centered (she's not), but because she honestly thinks the world would be better for knowing them.
She's Highly Critical
She's not just eager to tell others that they are wrong, she's also critical of her own work. She often won't share things unless they are perfect first.
She's Already A Great Writer
Her spelling may suck (so does mine, so clearly it runs in the family), and her stories are definitely written from her unique, 7-year-old perspective, but in my heavily-biased opinion she's already a damn good writer. Maybe not the next J.K. Rowling today, but she will definitely be a badass, best-selling author some day. Who knows, maybe she will write a tell-all about her life as a engineer vampire princess witch.
