So, what do you want to be when you grow up?

I love raising 3 little princesses. I love dressing them in their favorite colors and tying bows on their little dresses. And they love it, too. They cry when I tell them they can't wear a dress. They like being girls. It's a lot of who they are. I don't dream too far into what they might be when they're off on their own, but I figure these are the days when I am preparing them for those days.
For instance, I don't tell my girls they can be what ever they want. I think that's silly. Honestly, I would be a competitive hip hop dancer, slash, body surfer, slash, math guru and about a dozen other things that don't make any sense when you put them together. Oh, and I'd get paid WELL for all of them. I'd also be 30 pounds heavier and 2 inches taller, at least.
I think a few decades ago, some one got the idea that we need to break gender roles and tell our kids that they can be what ever they want. But that idea is now out of control.
A good portion of my life was chasing what ever I wanted to be. I really lived out what should have been a cool adventure, but none of it made me happy and none of it did anything for anyone else. In fact, trying to be what ever I wanted made me totally selfish. It hurt me and those who loved me. So I don't tell my children they can be whatever they want.
Neither do I tell my children that they have to be what I am or what my wife is; I tell them to be what they were made to be. This is more of a truth than following a generic gender role, what some company sells them, or what they can dream up. In fact, this is more of what they see me living (I hope).
I'm not what I ever dreamed to be. How many of us dreamed we would be our children's primary caretaker? Instead, we are what we are supposed to be for the benefit of the family. What we do, and what we don't do, is exactly what our family needs. In fact, doing what we are supposed to do enables our wives to do what they were made to do.
I tell my children if they want to know what they were made to do, then they need to ask the One who made them. And the Lord is already speaking to them; not only can they see that they are women, a fact which is very important, but they can see what they gravitate towards. Damai catches on to words and math quickly. Lani loves to paint. Anna loves athletics. These are things which they enjoy and do naturally. Are they the best at them? No, but they enjoy them and they do them well. You can argue nature vs. nurture, but these natural tendencies will serve to be guiding posts pointing them in the right direction towards what they were made for.
What's the whole point of telling them any of this anyway? I want my children to be happy. I want to be happy. And when I went around trying to be whatever I wanted to be, I was unhappy. This is my experience. However, the more that I give in to what I'm supposed to be, the happier I become. This is also my experience.