Yesterday, while completing a survey for work, I asked my 9-year-old what teen stars he looks up to? Tell me, I said, which teen stars do you think are amazing?
Without pause, he replied, “Molly Moon, Percy Jackson, and Harry Potter.”
I smiled. I smiled a really, really big smile. I know that at nine, he’s still naive to the pressure of keeping up with the stars and looking to them as the ones he most wants to be like. But to hear a nine-year-old boy immediately think of the teens he reads as those he idolizes, that’s pretty amazing.
True, all three of his idols have inhuman talents: Molly’s a hypnotist, Percy’s a demi-god, and Harry is a wizard, but all three have many similar qualities that I hope my son aspires to:
- they’re team players
- they’re leaders and respected for the decisions they make
- they fight hard for things to be better
- they outsmart demons and adults, proving that kids can do anything (especially with magical powers)
- they’re not afraid to ask questions
- they learn from their mistakes
- they recognize the good in others and always take that into consideration
It’s not bad to have such powerful role models in your life, is it?
