Earlier this year I was working in the kitchen and my toddler daughter, Aria, was sitting on the living room couch when suddenly this conversation broke out:

Her: Daddy, I want to go to space.
Me: Umm. Okay. You might be able to someday.
Her: I want to go now.
Me: Mmm. That’s not really possible tonight.
Her: Why?
Me: Well, we don’t have the right equipment.
Her: Why?
Me: We need spacesuits and rockets, and we don’t really live in a place where launching rockets happens. It’s kind of dangerous.
Her: Why?
Me: Because the rockets have lots of fuel in them that can explode. But, someday, you can go into space if it’s something you really want to do. I’ll come watch.
Her: But, I want you to come with me.
Me: Well, honey, that’s probably not going to work.
Her: Why?
Me: Because by the time you’re old enough to go into space I’ll be a little too old for the trip. But I know you can go someday, and I will come watch you.
(pause)
Her: Can I watch Doc (McStuffins)?

I shared this conversation with my sister, Heather, and while we had a good laugh, she ran with it as a birthday gift theme. This actually happened a few days ago on Aria’s fourth birthday:

I was a bit envious. Aria said that maybe Auntie Heather could get me a suit. I told her that I would need to be a real astronaut to get a grown-up version. (For the record Auntie Heather said, nope, I don’t!)

I have no idea where this thought of going into space came from. Maybe she saw something on a Daniel Tiger or Doc McStuffins episode. Maybe she talked about it in preschool. Perhaps she gave thought to those glowing stars stuck on her bedroom ceiling. Regardless the reason, as her father, I want her to know that she can do anything she puts her mind to. If the day comes that she heads to Mars, the moon or a space station, I will be there to watch her liftoff. I’ll wish I could be on the ship with her, but maybe she will give me a mission patch when she returns. You go, Rocket Girl. Dream big.