Second Chances

This morning, somewhere before six am, my daughter asked me, "Mommy, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Bleary eyed and bleary brained, I answered, "I always wanted to be an astronaut and go into space.  But now that NASA canceled their manned space program, it is my dream to take off at least six months to a year from work and travel around the world."

What then ensued was a heated philosophical question between myself and Raphaela, my five year old initially arguing that we only have one go-around at life, and that I won't get a second-chance career as an astronaut. "God only gives you one chance to get it right!" she said.   I eventually convinced her regarding the merits of reincarnation.  (True story, not exaggerating!)

Later, my friend Rachel suggested what would have been the perfect answer to Raphaela's original question namely, "When I grow up, I want to be an adult who gets to sleep past six am."