I have told Gennie that I don't mind what Alexander does when he grows up as long as he grows up to be a scientist. I don't mean that that necessarily has to be his job title or that he has to wear a lab coat, just that I hope that he always uses science and the scientific method in whatever he does. I hope he continues to take a keen interest in the world around him, develops theories about the world around him and then does experiments to find out if those theories are true.
I do this in my job (and non-work life) all the time. Actually I suspect everyone does it, but most people probably don't realize that they are actually doing science when they (for example) try another channel when there's static on the TV to find out if it's a problem with the TV (or cable provider) or just a problem with one particuar channel.
Maybe I should have said "I don't mind what my child does for a living as long as he understands what science is and appreciates its value whenever he uses it". But that's less catchy as a T-shirt slogan.
[...] - it used to do that every once in a while (particularly when I stuck things into it - I was a little scientist). Many of the books and tapes are available here - I guess I should get my wallet [...]
[...] [Update!] - This is what I was talking about. Apparently I had “Story Teller 2″ parts 5 and 16 and possibly also “Christmas Story Teller” part 2, because the titles Bored Brenda, Noggin And the Birds, The Snow Bear, The Inn Of Donkeys, Shorty The Satellite And The Brigadier, The Nightingale, Hugo And the Man Who Stole Colours, Mole’s Winter Welcome, The Tale of the Little Pine Tree and Grogre and the Giant Nasher seem familiar. I remember very little about any of these except that (as I recall) some of them made me feel quite sad. And there was something about a picnic of bread, cheese and apples in one of them. And people getting swallowed up by a bog. Derek Jacobi’s voice still makes me think of these stories to this day. It’s quite possible that at least some of these tapes were chewed up by my tape player - it used to do that every once in a while (particularly when I stuck things into it - I was a little scientist). [...]