I took my 8-year-old daughter Olivia to a women's gymnastics meet at the University of Maryland last night. Olivia has taken gymnastics classes one night a week for the last three years, and really likes going to college gymnastics meets.

At one point during the meet, she turned to me and said "I'd like to earn a college scholarship for gymnastics." This comment caught me completely by surprise, and I was uncertain how to respond. Do I talk about the amount of work required to earn a college scholarship? Do I tell her that anything's possible and that she should go for it? I compromised by smiling at her and giving her a hug, and we were quickly back to watching the action.

One of the best lessons my kids have taught me is to express your thoughts, dreams and goals without overthinking them. Adults, myself included, are often quick to point out the problems or challenges in reaching these goals. While that may be the rational response, that's not what kids want to, or should, hear, or at least not that alone.

In thinking about this incident more today, a response like "that is a great goal, and with hard work anything is possible" strikes me as more appropriate. Kids need to have goals and dreams, and we as parents don't want to discourage our kids from dreaming. 

Olivia is aware of the hard work gymnasts her age and younger are putting in. She's been asked to join a gymnastics team several times in the past but has declined precisely because she does not want to do gymnastics more than once a week.

At some point, she may decide gymnastics is a higher priority, and want to spend more time training as a result.  Or, she may not. I'm fine with this either way, but I want her to know that it's OK to dream.