Math Whiz

Smarty Pants 

I try not to brag about my kids too much, not only not to be that obnoxious parent, but also not to put too much pressure on them. But, sometimes I’ve just got to let it out. And this is one of those moments. My girl has some big, beautiful brains in that big, beautiful head!

A few weeks ago, we started casually introducing addition and subtraction to Lainey. We didn’t really expect her to latch on—it was just something to do one afternoon. But…

Last week, Mark asked Lainey how many crackers she wanted for a snack. Lainey said, “Four! No, FIVE! Two for me, two for Nick, and then we each get a half.” What?!! Mark was beside himself, and I thought it was pretty cool, but brushed it off as a fluke.

This past weekend, I was telling the story to Dad, Sharon, and Chris. Lainey chimed in with “Now I want THREE-and-a-half for me, and three-and-a-half for Nick.” Chris asked her how many that would be and without so much as a pause, she said, “Seven.” Even my jaw dropped this time—I had to admit that was pretty impressive.

She does better with word problems than a straight “what does 2 plus 2 equal?,” and she likes to make up her own—“if I have three cupcakes, and I eat one, and another one, and another one, I won’t have any cupcakes left.” Sometimes she has to use her fingers to figure out the answer, but she still gets there most of the time.

I know these are really basic math concepts, but I still think it’s pretty awesome that she’s picking them up so easily—and even cooler that she seems to be having fun with it! Oh little Laineybug! You surprise and challenge me every day. I hope this enthusiasm for learning sticks with you through the tougher years.

So, that’s all—my little girl can do math. No big whoop. Thanks for indulging me in my “my child’s a genius” moment!