My Daughter Wants To Be A Police Officer

Last night as I sat down on the couch and my daughter occupied herself with toys from her toy box she said to me, "Mommy, I want to be a police officer." As the mixed emotions ran through me I responded, "A police officer?" She said back excitedly, "Yes. A police officer. I want to take bad people off the streets." At this point I am truly at a loss for words. I asked, "Who told you to be a police officer?" I had assumed that clearly someone must have had this conversation with her or that someone gave her this idea. It could not possibly come from her own little brain. She's 3 for crying out loud. She laughed and said, "Nooooo, Mommy. No one told me that. It's what I want to be." So I said to her, "Did you tell your Dada?" She said, "Not yet. Call him now so I can tell him." As the phone rang I couldn't help, but to think about all the other careers she can have. My baby? A police officer? In this day? No way. Her father answers the phone while it's on speaker. Immediately, while still preoccupied with her toys, my daughter yells, "Dada, I want to be a police officer!" And immediately he says, "No! You will not be a police officer. You will be a doctor." Then she says, "I'll be a doctor and a police officer!"

I sighed the greatest sigh of relief, then laughed. She's 3. She wants to be everything right now I thought to myself. But if she gets older, and pursues a career as a police officer, as a mother I will support her, but as an overprotective parent I fear for her well-being with such a profession.

As parents do we have the right to tell our children what career or profession they can and cannot pursue?

I choose to support my baby in whatever she chooses, well, as long as it's something positive. But I don't see me dictating which profession she chooses.