Mother & Dream Crusher

My daughter Zoe has big dreams, and she can be pretty exhausting. As not to crush her dreams, I've started saying things to her like, "That sounds like a wonderful idea... for when you're 25!" (which is precisely what I said to her yesterday when she started making plans to open a tiny pie shop). I want her to believe in herself, but I also need her to recognize some of the realities of her ambitions, such as needing to get an education, acquire specific skills, and abide by labor laws. 

Actual footage of Zoe presenting her latest idea to me

Sometimes I worry about her teachers having to handle her big dreams. 

The other day, some representatives from the University of Utah neuroscience department came to the school to teach Zoe's grade about brains. One of the reps was pregnant, and Zoe immediately wrote her out a list of baby names and then made two dolls for the baby out of pipe cleaners. 

Then a few days later, the drama teacher at the school mentioned that she wants Zoe's class to do a play about mountain men (and women). Zoe came home that day, locked herself in her room, and wrote out an entire script and plans on giving it to the teacher. She also plans to interview Scotty about mountain men because, for some reason, she thinks Scotty is a mountain man expert and can, therefore, fill her with all the knowledge necessary to produce her play… which might actually be a musical as she is starting to brainstorm some mountain man songs.

Zoe's school teacher has been working on a campaign to bring the actual golden spike to Utah (it is currently in the basement of a museum in California). Zoe has become obsessed with the golden spike. She has asked me to write emails to help support the "rebellion" (which is what she calls the "campaign"). She has made banners about the golden spike and hung them all over the house. And most recently, she has designed golden spike t-shirts which she plans to sell to raise money to bring the golden spike to Promontory. How is she producing these t-shirts? Her aunt will make them, of course. Zoe has already offered these services to her teacher.

Zoe is always trying to start a business, market her arts and crafts, direct performances, take over the choreography for her dance teacher, and, as indicated above, name people's children. She has written a series of comic books, started a band, designed her own clothing line, and started a novel (she works on it on Sundays. So far it's 15 pages long and has no punctuation). Additionally, she is currently begging me daily to buy her a treadmill so she can train for a mud race.

I'm sure these traits will serve her well... when she's 25... but right now, I just cringe every time she presents one of her big ideas because I hate being the person who has to say, "Sorry honey, we're not going to open a roadside stand for you to sell the pictures you draw of minecarts filled with gems."