Day 9: Is your child a genius

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 9: Is your child a genius

99% of all parents are proud of their child. They think that their sons and/or daughters are the most beautiful and smartest creatures that were ever born.

While some parents keep their pride to themselves, others tell all and sundry what a genius they have created. Listeners usually indulge those proud parents, they nod their head and think … yeah, yeah, yeah and then have a good laugh behind their back.

Every now and then though, some parents take the bragging about their child to a whole new level. They’re not merely bragging, they are so pompous and pretentious that they believe their own lies.

They Marten for instance, he posted on Facebook …

My toddler told me why Pablo Neruda was a better poet than Robert Frost. It had to do with who wrote more about grapes, vineyards and wine. Then, after taking a swig of merlot, he called Frost a twat.

A toddler drinking Merlot ... surely Marten was kidding.

Then there's Rebecca, she wrote her daughter said the following … 

"DID YOU STICK YOUR FINGERS IN YOUR VAGINA, MUM?" 

My daughter, 8 years old, on a packed tube during rush hour, who's lifes ambition is to mortifying the poor fucker that brought her into this world 😐 and, yes, shes also a lot smarter than me. 

I dont think I'm making it out of this one alive...

Perhaps Rebecca's daughter can teach her mother how to spell.

And last but not least, my personal favorite …

I knew this kid was way smarter than I've ever been. Smarter than his Dad, too. He was three, hanging on the gate, watching a man fix his motorcycle. When it started again, the guy drove off, and my son came running for me saying, "It's a good idea to have an internal combustion engine on a motorbike, because if you had an external combustion engine, you'd burn your legs." When I was 3 I couldn't have said internal or external or combustion, never mind knowing what they meant! He was 4 when he explained to me that the encyclopedias were in alphabetical order which would make it much easier to find things, and wasn't that a good idea - I didn't know he knew what alphabetical order was! Never mind knowing why.

A 3-year-old who knows the difference between an internal and external combustion engine … wow. A 3-year-old who uses the word combustion … wow.

All this is bullshit of course. I did some research and found the following …

A 3-year-old should be able to:

Say his or her name and age

• Speak 250 to 500 words
• Answer simple questions
• Speak in sentences of five to six words, and speak in complete sentences by age 4
• Speak clearly, although he may not be fully comprehensible until age 4 
• Tell stories
• Correctly name familiar colors
• Understand the idea of same and different, start comparing sizes
• Pretend and fantasize more creatively
• Follow three-part commands
• Remember parts of a story
• Understand time better (for example, morning, afternoon, night)
• Count, and understand the concept of counting
• Sort objects by shape and color
• Complete age-appropriate puzzles

In addition, I contacted a schoolteacher and asked her if what Marten, Rebecca, and Laurie claimed could be true. She laughed out loud.

"While some children are obviously smarter than others," she said, "every now and then there are the truly gifted ones. Its' not uncommon for these gifted children later in life to be diagnosed with autism or Asperger's Syndrome."

When I looked up Asperger's Syndrome I found the following:

Asperger's Syndrome is a pervasive developmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication and by repetitive patterns of behaviors, or interests. It is observed in some gifted children.

If your child is of average intelligence … count your blessings.

Day 73: Who’s the boss … the parents or the child?

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 73: Who’s the boss … the parents or the child?

The question ‘Should parents be allowed to smack their child?’ was recently posted on Facebook. A string of comments followed. The younger generation was against corporal punishment, the older generation saw nothing wrong with it.

I see nothing wrong with it either. When a child misbehaves, how else are parents to exercise discipline? Some might say that sending a child to their room is punishment. What a joke that is. Most kids have plenty of entertainment in their bedroom, so what do they care if they have to spend an extra couple of hours there.

Back in my day, we feared our parents. Dad never hit, he had the hands of a boxer and feared his own strength. So mam was the one to watch out for. She didn’t hit often, but when she did it was usually deserved. Sometimes she didn’t even have to hit, she just had to give us 'the look' and we knew we were skating on thin ice.

Just as a picture is worth a thousand words, so is one smack. Parents can talk and talk to their kids until the cows come home and the words will go in one ear and out the other. Raise your hand though and kids will know you mean business. Without this kind of discipline, parental authority has become a joke and kids become hooligans. They know that parents can’t lay a hand on them, and they take full advantage of it.

Just how little authority parents have over their kids became clear yesterday.

I was in the waiting room of St. Michael’s Family Practice where a sign was on display reading:

“For the sake of other patient’s health, please wear a mask if you are coughing or experiencing any other signs of a cold. Thank you.”

A woman in her late twenties walked in with a small boy. I’m guessing the child was four or five years old. While the mother registered, the boy – who had a bad cough - took a seat in the waiting room.  When she was finished with the receptionist, the woman called her boy so she could fit him with a mask. He refused.

She explained to him that because he had a cough, he had to wear a mask. Again, he refused. The woman’s response … okay then.

The boy spent about 15 minutes in the waiting room, coughing his head off. This annoyed me to no end. When adults give a tiny cough or sneeze, they are forced to wear a mask before they can sit in the waiting room, but here was this obviously sick child and he was free to spread his germs wherever he pleased. And not only was he coughing, not once did the mother tell him to keep his hand in front of his mouth. Now that’s just bad parenting. If this had been my child, he would have worn a mask whether he liked it or not.

Later on, as mother and son were preparing to leave, something equally annoying happened. As they were putting on their coats, the mother asked the son “How do you want to go home? By cab or by subway?”  Who the hell cares what the kid wants. She is the mother. She makes the decisions. Whatever next? Will she ask him what time he wants to go to bed? Or what she can watch on TV?

On the subway, on the way home I met another annoying mother and child. This mother was also in her late twenties with a kid of about three years old. He came running onto the train and headed straight for the seat next to me. Instead of sitting down, he clambered onto the seat and sat on his knees to look out the back window. Now much to see except for a dark tunnel, but okay.

I wouldn’t have minded, except that he couldn’t sit still for more than 10 seconds, and every time he twisted and turned he wiped his filthy wet boots on my pants.

What annoyed me about this woman was, not only did she not discipline her child, she was paying no attention to him, she was too busy texting. Eventually, when she took a break from her phone, I gave her ‘the look’ and it worked like a charm. She could see that I've had it with her brat and if she didn't take charge of the situation, I would.

On the other hand, I encountered no less than three Oriental couples with their child and not a word of a lie, all three children – ranging from 3 to 6 years old – were perfectly behaved. No screaming, no running, no squirming in their seat. They sat quietly next to their parents, keenly observing what went on around them. I have no idea whether they were Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Vietnamese, but it seems to me Western parents can learn a thing or two from their Asian counterparts.

www.connymanero.weebly.com

Meet Kiki

Kiki

Easter has come and gone and with it a lot of bunnies are looking for a home.

It’s quite common for children to fall in love with these soft, adorable creatures and to beg their parents “Please can I have a bunny?”  When a couple of more ‘pleases’ follow the question, parents tend to give in, either to silence their child or because they fancy the pet too.

After a few days it’s a different story.  Providing food and water for bunny might be considered fun, but cleaning its cage is anything but.  Unlike cats and dogs, bunnies make a mess and to prevent the situation from getting out of hand, bunny’s living conditions need a lot of attention.

The result … kids are no longer interested in their cute pet and the parents get sick and tired of cleaning up after it.  Before long the parents decide that the bunny has to go. 

Where ones pet stores were crowded with bunnies, now animal shelters get flooded with them.

Fortunately, there are people who are willing to open up their heart and their home to these rejects.  Most of them have considered such adoption for some time, have researched a bunny’s requirements and know about the work involved.  When they feel they’re ready, they adopt from a shelter rather than buying at a pet store.

Kiki is one such a rejected bunny.  Wanted with Easter, no longer wanted a few days later.  Fortunately, we were at the right place at the right time and were able to rescue one little bunny from a life in a shelter or worse.

As Kiki grows up, I’ll keep you updated with stories and pictures.