I was talking to Jeff about it and I swear I'm looking at the next generation of nerdom here. In this pile of birthday loot there's the telescope and microscope he was ridiculously excited for, the Jedi training manual and Star Wars puzzles, the remote control spider and underneath all that, a magic kit.
Now, he's 9, so I give that this is the age that he's "supposed" to be into these things. In this day and age though, it's all about instant gratification for 9 year olds, not discovering what a rock looks like under a microscope. I'm pretty sure the majority of the blame rests on parents that are complacent in their mediocracy to create mediocre children, but that's how it seems to be. Not to sound like I'm bragging that my kid is so much smarter than any other kid (despite my motherly belief in that very fact), but this kid here loves books, puzzles, building and science more than anything else. Even video games, even though it will be a dark day for him when he doesn't have those.
It fills me with an immense amount of pride and worry at the same time. I don't know if he's going to fall into that mold of being hopelessly socially awkward as he gets older. I worried that was the case already, but apparently he's the kid everyone wants to be friends with right now.
My main point in this really rambling blog that I swear had a more cohesive point when I started typing it, is this. As parents, we create the expectations that our kids live up to. It's our job to support them no matter what they love, yes, but it's also our job to hold them to a standard that we know they can achieve, while not getting angry if sometimes they fail. I'd like to think it's the standards of knowing he's smart enough to handle all these interests that has led to him being interested in them. I know that's not all it is, because if there's anything I've learned by age 9, it's that he will be his own person in any and all ways, no matter what I think sometimes. It's a good chunk of it though.
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