One goal of mine for my girls is not only to share my passions with them but also encourage their own dreams and loves. Many people believe that children so young cannot be passionate about something, that it is just a phase, or that the child's interest will not amount to much. But I know many who have been passionate about something, like musical theatre, from a young age and are happily still pursuing those interests.
My girls are night and day from each other and anyone who spends any amount of time with them sees that right away. Gabby loves sports, video games, and drawing. She asked me today if she can be an art teacher, which of course delighted me. We bought her an art book yesterday that takes numbers and teaches you how to turn them into drawings, like the number 8 becomes a spider.... it is very cool. (And this way she gets practice writing her numbers!)AJ, however, is my princess and lives for costumes, shoes, and reading. She has a hoard of princess books that she insists on sleeping with and if you try to put them away she gets them right back out. She is constantly in one costume or another, and going errand running with her dressed up is so common that I don't even think about it. (So if you see a purple unicorn running around Target, yes, that is probably my daughter!)
I found this great article from Zen Family Habits about encouraging passions in your children.... a worthwhile read!
