Ground control to Major Kyle

By Jae-Ha Kim
jaehakim.com
October 29, 2013

Last year, when my son was 4 years old, he said he wanted to become an astronaut when he grew up.

I was almost dancing with joy, because, well… he wanted to become an ASTRONAUT!

So, for Christmas, we got him an astronaut costume to play in. (He already had a glow-in-the-dark shirt with all the planets — including Pluto — on it and a matching backpack.) The helmet and NASA backpack were so big on him at the time that he almost toppled over. (See photographic evidence of this on the left.)

The flight suit, albeit long, looked good on him, though, don’t you think?

At his preschool graduation, all the children announced what their future career goals were.

Hee hee! Yeah, I know. It’s funny to have career aspirations when not one of them could tie their own shoelaces yet.

Anyhow, some of the kids said they wanted to grow up to be train engineers, while others said they wanted to be police officers and singers.

When it was my little guy’s turn, I nudged my mother and husband in anticipation of what was to come.

“Hi, my name is Kyle,” he said. “When I grow up, I want to be a fireman!”

Say what? That wasn’t the plan, son! 😉

But that’s what he liked at the moment. And, all joking aside, it was pretty cute to see him all excited about becoming a fire fighter, especially because that’s what his father did during summer breaks from college. (And my husband grew up to be a scientist, so…)

There’s something you should know about my boy. He loves rockets and outer space, but he also loves good music. So when he saw Col. Chris Hadfield’s amazing video for “Space Oddity” — which was recorded at the International Space Station during Hadfield’s last mission in space earlier this year — Kyle’s interest in astronauts was once again piqued. He said maybe one day he could play his guitar in space, too.

Of course, he’s only 5 years old. He has also tossed around the idea of becoming Darth Vader, the red Power Ranger and a chef when he grows up. Clearly, he doesn’t believe in getting stuck in one genre of awesomeness.

All I know is that he will be an astronaut … for Halloween. And not just any astronaut. He’s going as Commander Hadfield.

Here’s a sneak peek. He worked hard to grow that ‘stache. Not bad for 5, huh?

The Canadian Broadcasting corporation ran my son’s photo (along with other children paying homage to Col. Hadfield). You may see the photos here. Kyle’s costume was ranked in 2nd place in several other publications, such as the U.K.’s Metro and the Gawker Media Group.

Read my interview with Col. Chris Hadfield here.

© 2013 JAE-HA KIM | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED