Last year at Thanksgiving, myself, my wife, and daughter were at my mother's house.  The food was good and everyone was making an effort to get along.  Of course, my wife and I ended up talking to each other, as no other members of my family can sign.  This means mucho boredom on our part, but our daughter loves visiting her grandma, so we just grin and bear it.

Anyhoo, at one point my mother looks at us and says, "When she grows up, she can interpret for you two!"

Being the diplomatic sort that I am, I say, "Oh, hell, no."

Mom starts nodding her head vigorously, "Oh, yes.  She has to!"

I said, "We were doing just fine fending for ourselves before she was born.  I'm not putting that pressure on her."

Mom's not a bad person.  She was thinking about how our lives would be easier if we DID make our kid interpret for us. See, my mother is about convenience.  If it works or if it's easy to get ahold of, do it.  Got a headache?  Take a pill.  Losing your hair?  Wear a wig or use Rogaine.  Don't feel like getting your own drink from the refridgerator?  Have someone get it for you.  Need an interpreter?  Grab the kid.

I will be the first to admit that it's great having her with us when we go to a noisy restaurant.  She lets us know when they call our name.  I always tell the hostess to wave or tap me when our table is ready, but they forget a lot.  She also tells  us when the dog is making noises that indicate she needs to use the bathroom,  However, she does these things VOLUNTARILY.  We do not ask  her to.
             
My daughter is five years old.  She's got a world full of opportunities to explore and I will NOT limit her in any way by telling her that when she gets older, she's going to be our personal interpreter.  Taking away someone's ability to choose their own destiny is a horrible thing to do.  It's happened to me before and damn near drove me insane, seriously.

Now, when she's older and has had the opportunity to discover her own strengths, if she decides then to become an interpreter, fantastic.  I STILL don't want her to think she has to interpret for us.  The literature is full of stories by children of deaf adults (CODAs) who feel angry, bitter, cheated, and so forth because they were viewed as interpreters for their parents.

The best gift we can give her is the gift to choose.  Of course, that means we're not going to like all of her choices but it does mean that we'll have to respect them.  Suppose she decides she wants nothing to do with the deaf community?  Do we tell her that she can't make that choice?  As painful as it sounds, the answer is no.  Her life, her choice, her path.

We DO tell her that when she's talking with Mommy and Daddy, she needs to sign.  If we go to a deaf event, we tell her that she has to sign.  We do this so she develops a respect for the communication needs of different populations.  She has no problem with this.