Lately, each day has begun with one important question for J. He wants to know, immediately upon waking up, if he is five yet. This all-consuming passion for his birthday to arrive is not all that uncommon for a four-year-old, but he happens to combine it with an obsession for numbers. This means that after he absorbs the deep disappointment of still being four, he moves on to how many sleeps remain until the big day (There are still twenty-eight sleeps left? Is twenty eight a smaller number than thirty? What about thirty-one? Is that a bigger number? Forty-one is bigger than forty, isn't it? That means Daddy is older than you are!).
You can believe me when I tell you that the term obsession is not too strong a term for a topic that, based on seemingly endless discussions with him over the past few days, occupies the majority of his waking hours. We are not allowed to forget it, as he prefers a full response to not only all of his questions, but also to every single one of his statements concerning quantities (Octillion is a number, Mom, and so is a drillion).
A few days ago I came across one of those packets of flashcards that are designed to make parents think their kids will love them and through using them become math geniuses. My older three have consistently and uniformly despised all flashcards, no matter how colorful and well designed, and therefore every packet that remains in our possession looks brand new. James might be different, I considered, and for once, I was right on the money. The flashcards have become his beloved companion on all of our car journeys for the past week. After he has temporarily exhausted all questions along the lines of, say, "Will I live to be one hundred and a half?" and "If you started counting to one billion right now, would you die before you finished?" and "Will I always be the youngest in our family?" he starts in on the flashcards. My relief is, alas, short-lived, as this means a whole new series of questions is about to begin.
Assuming that I have eyes in the back of my head, he cannot understand why I am unable to read the math problems for him while I am driving. "Is this one adding or taking away?" "If you start with eight ice creams, and take away seven, what do you get?" Is this one eight plus four more, or four plus eight more? Why are they both twelve? How many is seven take away seven? Zero? Yes! (accompanied by his fist pumping the air ahead of him). Zero is his favorite number right now.
We went through a brief period of thinking that perhaps the flashcards were in fact making a math genius out of him as he seemed to always have the right answer. His older sister was a bit alarmed that she was being passed up in her adding and subtracting ability until she discovered that either (1) he was taking a peek at the answer first before tackling the problem, or (2) he came across one of the ones he memorized in one of their many "let's play school" sessions at home.
After about fifteen minutes of non-stop math drill questions in the car yesterday afternoon, my mind had wandered far, far away. Frustrated with my lack of responses and about to give up, James decided to imagine different pictures on his flash card. "What about cappuccinos, Mom? What if you started with three and added two more, would that be five?" No, James, that would not be five. That would be bliss!
And here is the junior mathematician enjoying his very own "baby cino" and homemade chocolate chip muffin for morning tea earlier today.
I'll have what he's having!! Yummy! :)
However, as cute as he sounds in your story, I'm glad I not having what you're having (unending math questions!!) I admire your patience. Don't deny that you have it - I have witnessed your answering question after question and you are quite admirable in dealing with it! I'll bet he loves having you all to himself while the others are in school. Thanks for sharing.....miss you guys.
Posted by: Suzanne | 08/17/2011 at 12:40 PM
I love this post an octillion! That is a number, isn't it? Didn't James, earlier in the year, quantify his love for Ross, and ask exactly how many days it would be until he returned to Pittsburgh? What a delightful young man! I have no doubt God has something special in mind for James!
Posted by: Amy Smith | 08/17/2011 at 01:08 PM
Maybe he'll be the one to balance the budget!LOL
I love the, "How many sleeps?"! My kids have always measured days by that too.
As Suzanne said, I'm sure he's enjoying his time with you. I feel bad, but sometimes I just tell Joshua, "enough words". I can only take a certain amount of words in one day. I definitely need to learn patience from you!
Great post!
Posted by: Nikki | 08/19/2011 at 01:09 AM
James did, earlier this year, claim that he loved his father "forty times," and yes, he kept a running countdown of days before our trip back. Now if I could just get him interested in learning his letters!
Posted by: Christie | 08/19/2011 at 08:08 AM
This post was so great! I loved it.
Posted by: Shanda | 08/19/2011 at 09:33 AM