The Curse of the Brilliant Child

Ok, so my son isn't BRILLIANT, but he is pretty damn smart. I am usually very proud of his intelligence, but everyone once in a while he comes up with something that makes me say, "I shouldn't read you so many books anymore".

Some of his sayings are freakin' adorable. The other night my husband said something (of course, I wasn't really listening so I don't know what Charming Husband said) and my 3 year old son turned to him and said, and I quote, "Casey, that is inappropriate". Um. What? Where the hell did you learn that word? Apparently Handy Manny is getting more sophisticated by the minute. There is a pretty distinct possibility that what Charming Husband said was in fact inappropriate, and I can't help but find it amusing when he calls his daddy by his first name.

Not everything he says is adorable, like the swear words for instance, but there is really no one to blame but his "fuck" loving mama. That's not true, it's still pretty adorable.

The hardest for me are the times when he is right, and he proves it. 3-year-olds are not supposed to be able to rationalize. They are supposed to fight back and scream "NOOOOO" but they aren't supposed to come up with alternative ideas. I was trying to get my son dressed the other morning so that I could actually get to work on time. He kept wanting to eat cereal, but his daycare usually provides a better breakfast than that, and I didn't really have time, so I wanted him to skip cereal and eat at school. My plan was to get him dressed, and by then he would forget about the cereal. No such luck. I kept saying "let's get dressed 1st, then we will have cereal". My 3-year-old turned to me and said, and I quote, "here's why that isn't a good plan". Excuse me? Ok, fine. "Why isn't it a good plan?" "Because if I spill my cereal I am just going to have to change again". Damnit. You're right. The 3-year old has made a very valid argument, and I my only choices are to either give in and go with his "plan" or admit that we are never going to eat the cereal because there is breakfast at school. I don't remember now who finally one that one, my guess is it ended with lots of fit throwing and crying, on both parts. Regardless of the outcome, I still had to walk away knowing that my 3-year-old outsmarted me.

3-year-olds are NOT supposed to be able to rationalize. That kind of thing should be left up to crazy women and crazy women alone. Having a brilliant child is such a curse :)