The New Generation of Smarty Pants



It's no secret kids are smarter than the rest of us. My nephews can work an iPod Touch faster than me. Jackson's homework in third grade was comparable to my homework from the fifth grade. And if you ask me and any kid to hook up a Wii, you'll get a blank stare in return.

David has taken children's knack for picking up things easily to a new level. Forget Baby Einstein -- welcome to David's School of Finance.

As soon as we found out we were pregnant, David talked about reading the Wall Street Journal to our baby instead of, say, Dr. Seuss. He was partially joking, partially serious. It was not for educational purposes, mind you. He just thought it would be fun (clearly his idea of fun is very different from my own). I think, deep down, he was hoping to cultivate Ford's desire to learn and, possibly, try to develop some interests similar to his own.

NOTE: I have yet to see David actually read the WSJ to Ford. I have, however, caught him reading an uber-boring finance book to him. It had the same effect on Ford as it did on me -- put us to sleep.



Ford takes his first Excel lesson. Never
too young to learn spreadsheet basics.

Nothing makes me more proud than seeing Ford learn something. He has yet to master Excel, but he's become quite the accomplished drummer. We showed him what to do with a drum over the weekend, and the following Monday at school, I set him down in the floor next to a drum and he picked it up and started banging on it right away. The kid's got skills. In that moment, I was one of those goofy, beaming mothers who thinks her kid is a genius. I freely admit I was a proud mom that morning -- all over some banging on a little toy drum. I know it's ridiculous, but I've come to accept that I will probably always be this way with him. I look forward to all his achievements, big and small, and I will celebrate them all. There's nothing like watching a child discover the world and himself. Even the smallest things bring so much joy to my life.

Categories: the kids