Almost famous

Being the President of Finland still seems to have some pull. Yesterday, H, the boy genius – both self-proclaimed and encouraged by parents – surprised me right in the middle of a nice bike ride to the grocery store.

Well, he's not eligible to become the next president, but you get the idea.

“When I’m big…”

I smiled because I like these stories because I still play them in my head myself.

“…and I’ve moved to Finland…”

This caught me by surprise. But, a pleasant one.

“… I think I want to become the President…”

I was still smiling, and, at the same time, feeling two warm waves of emotions. One, my son wants to be the president of Finland so the boy obviously seems to have some ambition. No slacker. Nice!

Two, I would be the father of the President. Maybe there’s a memoir right there?

And three, I remembered being in the sixth grade and having a chat with the school nurse after my check-up, and her telling me that I was such a smart little boy that I’d certainly grow up to be the president one day.

Well, that was her dream, not mine.

I also made a mental note that H is a native-born Finnish citizen, a requirement the Finns have for their presidents. For his other country, Sweden, the options are more narrow because he can’t become the King of Sweden.

Not without a revolution, anyway, and I’m not going to encourage that.

“… but I’d also like to be known for my inventions.”

2 thoughts on “Almost famous

  1. Correct me if I’m wrong, but based on what he’s seen of the Finnish Presidency during his lifetime, I guess H is thinking he’s going to have a sex change and become a lesbian? Because from what he’s seen, those are the requirements for the Presidency, right?

  2. Children like H are the reason I loved showing up at my classroom everyday. And yes, according to one of my 2nd graders the sex change is easy. It means you just circle the "F" instead of the "M" on the paper!!!

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