Really Smart

The *cognitively dissonant* reaction to my kids these days, from our peers, is "Well, your kids are just extraordinarily smart."

That's complete and utter BS. We do plenty of intellectual work, every single day. I even get that most annoying line from my mother.

These kids are EXTRAORDINARILY SMART:

Over dinner, my 5-year-old expressed concern that the carbon dioxide causing bubbles in Dad's beer is poisonous. In the ensuing discussion about the atmosphere, I point out that oxygen is only about 17% of the air we breathe. I am corrected, "Actually Mom, it's 21%." -- Elissa

You pick up your 2-and-a-half-year-old from preschool and have this conversation:
Mom: "What did you do at school today?"
Child: "We did the letter M."
Mom: "Did you have a good time?"
Child: "Mom, I want to get to Z!"
Mom: "Why is that?"
Child: "Because I know all the letters already!"
Mom: "Well, if you got to Z, then what would you do?"
Child: (wistfully) "Silent E..."
-- Cathy

You take your 9 year old to an Italian museum that has ceiling frescos and when you come to a room that has lots of Roman gods and goddesses, she looks at the ceiling and says "Mom, why do all the other gods have their wives with them but Neptune has his sister?" (They were not labeled—she figured it out by their attributes.) -- Debbie

This morning my kids and I had a lot of fun walking around the neighborhood looking at the yard sales and having a BBQ. The kids were all saying thanks and talking about the books they found. I asked, "Who is the best mom in the whole world?" All of the other kids laughed and said, "You are, mom." But my old-soul 6-year-old said, "Boy, that is quite a puzzle. I think you are a good mom and you do good things. But I have only experienced one mom. There are millions of moms in the world so, if you are looking for a compliment, I will say you are. But I really can not possibly know for sure. Even if I did know every mom in the world, it would just be my opinion, not a fact." :-) That'll teach me to ask a cocky rhetorical question to my very literal son. -- Heather

My three-year-old decided to tell her grandparents what it was like in Mommy's belly. " I started out tiny and then grew bigger and bigger. Then I just wanted to get out, paint my nails and get some knowledge." -- Jennifer

My son was testing to skip Kindergarten. He was asked if he could count to 10. His response was "What? In English??" He then did it in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese, ASL, and Japanese... -- John

My five-year-old is a voracious reader - non-fiction only. We went to a flea market and bought him several new books on geography and weather. As we drove home, he was in the backseat reading. "Mommy, did you know that Tennessee is the damnmedest state in the country?"
I figured I hadn't heard him right. I asked him to repeat himself. "Mommy, Tennessee is the most dammed state in the world."
OK, so I start getting worried. We don't use that kind of language. Where did he hear that? "It's right here in my book."
My husband is laughing and making it harder for me to keep a straight face. I ask him to read it word for word. "The Tennessee Valley has more hydroelectric plants than any other region in the world." -- Mary

When my son was just starting kindergarten, he kicked his older sister and was sitting on the couch crying and throwing a tantrum because he got in trouble. (All I have to do is tell him he is in trouble, and he gets upset.) In the middle of the tantrum, he stopped suddenly and asked me if "kick" was spelled with two k's, two c's, or one c and one k. I explained how it was spelled. He looked at me for a moment, then went right back into his tantrum! -- Karrie

Read the rest of the testimonials on Hoagies' Gifted.

Though, bear in mind that *genius* can't compete a lick with good old-fashioned hard work. When I was in high school, I dusted scores of kids in math competitions who were clearly five times smarter than I was.

See my prior posts:

Book Rec - Talent Is Overrated

Outliers - A Must Read

Looking Ahead