When I Was a Kid I Wanted to be a...

When I first started thinking about this week's Monday Listicles (10 things you thought as a child you would do or be suggested by Wendy at Twisted Domestic Goddess) I thought it would be really hard because when I was a kid, all I ever wanted to be was a...

1. Dentist. This is what I remember most wanting to be as far back as sixth grade. I used to answer those job inventory tests in high school to match what I thought a dentist would do.

Q: Likes to work with his hands?

A: Check! (I think)

I think this came from the fact that my uncle was our dentist and I always enjoyed going to his office. Eventually, like in college, I realized that you had to be really smart and go to school for forever to be a dentist and then you had to spend the rest of your life sticking your hands in people's mouths. So I never became a dentist.

Then I thought about what I secretly wanted to be when I was little, like...

2. An actress. I've always thought I'm a pretty good actor in the privacy of my bathroom or any place where people aren't. Sometimes I will act out a cooking show when I'm making lunch or do a commercial for under eye concealer in my bathroom mirror.

Recently, I contemplated doing some vlogs (video blogs) on basic things like how to screw in a lightbulb or how to boil water, after I watched a video on Youtube, titled, “How to use a pumice stone.” I watched the entire thing waiting for some revolutionary information on how use it. Nope. Nothing, other than it can also be pronounced “pewmice” stone.

3. Voice Actor – I used to spend hours pretending to be Captain 20 as Nick Numbers from our local DC TV station (who I was in awe of once when I saw him in a parade - now he's a wedding DJ). This would have been perfect for me as an actor because I could act without an audience. But, unfortunately, I have an active imagination and could picture all the people sitting on the edge of their seats listening to me and that scared me and still does.

4. Playwright. I used to write plays to act out with my friends. But I was such an anal-retentive kid (and adult) that by the time I got the script written perfectly, all my friends had gone home and we never acted anything out.

5. Author. I used to write stories and make them into books with illustrated covers when I was a kid. I found one last year about a pink and polka-dotted pill I found in the garden and how it gave me special powers. I looked for it last night, but couldn't find it. However, I did come up with this beauty:

The most shocking thing to me about this picture, other than I look like I'm sniffing the magazine, is the date: Winter 1984. I was 13. I was 13 and still playing with Barbies. This means I was making out with My First Kiss and playing with Barbies at the same time.

That ain't right.

As I got into college, I changed my major about 20 times, give or take 10. Here are a few things I wanted to be:

6. Nutritionist – This was what I wanted to be in high school and college. I used to stand behind my mom while she cooked dinner and tell her how she was killing the family by frying our dinner in oil (I think she was sautéing). I was a great kid to have around.

I got my degree in Biology and Nutrition, so I was well on my way, but never actually worked in the field of nutrition. By the time I got my degree, I wasn't so interested in it. I used to eat chips and salsa for dinner every night and called that healthy eating.

7. Environmentalist. My dad had a big influence on me when it came to the environment (and nutrition). He used to get upset at all the trees that were being cut down for new houses in our town. I wanted to change that. I joined GreenPeace. Then I found out they were a tiny bit extreme, so I let my membership run out. I considered a job in the environmental field, but thought the job outlook was poor. So, I didn't pursue that.

8. Physical Therapist. When I was in college, this was a really competitive major to get into and you had to be smart. So I gave that idea up.

9. A Mom. At some point I knew I wanted to get married and have kids, but I don't remember when. Maybe when I was ten (or 13), playing Barbies and had Ken and Barbie get married in an elaborate ceremony, Barbie wearing a gorgeous handmade gown with matching veil and Sun Lovin' Malibu Ken in his swim trunks with peek-a-boo tan. After the ceremony, they had a costume change, then made out and in the next scene Barbie had a baby Barbie shoved up her glittery frock.

Source: barbieimages.com via jenny on Pinterest

Check out that tan!  Side note: When I pinned this to Pinterest, I accidentally pinned it on my board, "Things I Want To Snack On"

I can't think of a #10. So, you tell me, when you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Tweet