What he wants to be when he grows up

Last night Mark informed me he was dropping out of school. He'd decided it was time for him to get a job instead.

"What kind of job?" I asked, but he shrugged and answered "I don't know."

"What jobs are there for people with a third-grade education?" I asked. "Actually, you don't even have that -- you haven't finished third grade yet!"

"I'll get a dirty job, I guess," he answered. "You know, like that T.V. show."

I thought about it for a minute. "You need to be really strong for those jobs," I told him. "Lugging around that dirt and all."

"Fine, then I'll kill termites," he said. "I'll be a terminator."

"Exterminator," I corrected, absentmindledly. "You have to be tall to do that." He wanted to know why, and I explained to spray poison up along the roofline.

"OK, then I'll be a teacher," he said.

"Well, then you definitely need to stay in school for that," I countered. "You don't even know algebra yet!"

"What's algebra?" he asked.

"It's an advanced math," I told him. "You've gotta learn math to teach school."

"Then I'll teach second grade," he answered smartly. "I already know that math. Or maybe even kindergarten, because I've known all that stuff for like, years now." He smiled at me triumphantly, as I burst into laughter. The image of him teaching a kindergarten class was hilarious.

"You really think you can handle a class full of Grants?" I asked, referring to my 4-year-old nephew. He nodded.

And so it was set in his mind. He's quitting school to become, ironically enough, a teacher.

Lucky for me, he's got a short memory, and he'd already forgotten about his new vocation this morning. He skipped happily off to school, right past the kindergarten classes, in his old role as a student.