smart kids from the start

Early Saturday morning a delirious momma called me long distance to squeal, “Momsie, we have the smartest little girl in the whole world. She is crawling.”

I looked at the calendar, the baby is barely two and a half months old.
“She is? What kind of crawling? On hand and knees or pulling along with her arms and pushing with her toes and legs?”
“I tell you, Momsie, she is crawling. She wanted her daddy and crawled right over to him. He moved back a little bit and she went right after him again. I tell you, Momsie, she is crawling.”

“Okay, I believe you. She is crawling. Is she up on her hand and knees crawling or pushing with her feet and pulling with her arms. Babies usually do that first.”

“Oh, all right, she is pulling with her arms and pushing with her feet. But she is crawling. She is so smart.”
“I knew she was a strong, healthy, smart baby the first time I saw her. But doing a belly crawl first is important. For some reason all those early stages contribute to reading ability and eye-hand coordination later.”

Sunday afternoon, my brother called to check on the family. I told him about my Saturday morning call and asked about his grandson, “Oh he’s the best, of course.” I could see his slow, gentle smile long distance. “The great thing about our grandson is that he is a happy baby. No matter what, he is just happy and content.”
“He looks that way in the pictures,” I agreed.
We swapped stories about our children and grandchildren, who are all, of course, above average. Neither of us mentioned the times when we wondered if they had any common sense.

Like the time one of mine was 4-years-old. He accompanied his dad on a trip to a barn to store several 8-inch oak beams. At the barn, father and son walked to the back of the car. One little boy got busy helping his dad.

He reached up and tugged an oak beam hanging out the back of the station wagon. Halfway out of the car, the weight of the beam tipped it to the ground. My husband saw and inclined balance beam that most pre-schoolers enjoy walking up and down. He left it there while he unloaded the other beams and carried them into the barn.

The child never moved toward the beam to try to balance his way precariously up the beam. Neither did he walk away to explore the area. He quietly stood there watching his dad.

Only the inclined beam was left to carry into storage. My husband walked over and picked up the wood to move it into the barn. As he lifted it, my son sighed deeply, “Finally,” and stepped back. His foot had been pinned under the beam the whole time. He had never complained or asked for help. He had quietly stood there watching his dad work.
At 5 months-old the child crawled on his h ands and knees and I knew I had the smartest child ever. As he grew older, some of his exploits left me wondering. Time and college graduation validated my initial impression. It only seemed like a long time in-between.


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