I think I was about eight years old when my mother asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. "Mother and Cowboy" I answered without any hesitation. My mother smiled "Well," she said " I’m quiet sure you’ll be a mother, but a mother AND a cowboy? At the same time? I’m not sure if that’s possible… You would have to move to America and that’s very far away, you know." Luckily she told me that she wasn’t sure if it was possible; that meant that there was still a chance. When I have to describe my life now, almost thirty years later I’d have to say that I’m a mother and a cowboy. First and for all I’m a mother to my four children but whenever I have the chance I pull on my cowboy boots and jump on my horse…in America. Children often know exactly what they want to do and unschooling helps them to follow their interests and make their dreams come true. My son Rutger says that he’s going to travel to Tibet, when he’s old enough, to free the Tibetan people from the Chinese oppression. I had to smile when he told me this and just like my mother I have my doubts… But who am I to tell Rutger that it’s not possible? My job isn’t to tell him what he can’t do, but to encourage him to believe that he can do anything he sets his mind to. That’s why I encourage him to follow his interests and pursue his dreams. Stijn, age 7, writes and sings the most wonderful songs and he often gives concerts for family and friends. He is also extremely interested in (and good at) math because he wants to become a rock star when he grows up and make loads of money of course! My husband and I both smile when he talks about his dream of being a rich rock star. We often tell our children that money isn’t important and that there’re more valuable things in live than material possessions, but who are we to take his dream away? When my husband was still a child he knew he wanted to be a saxophone player. Everyone told him that it wasn’t possible to make a living that way so he gave up on his dream and chose a business career instead. Now that he is forty he realizes that he feels most happy when he’s on stage playing the saxophone during the weekend and he has decided to make his childhood dream come true after all. He sometimes wishes that he had Stijn’s confidence. I think we all know deep down inside what makes us who we are; what our ‘mission’ in life is. We all carry beautiful gifts that we need to share with the world. Unschooling allows children to discover their gifts and learn whatever they need to learn to be their best possible self and that’s the only way that leads to happiness.