His Alter Ego Strikes Again

Have I mentioned that Luke is a genius? I know that I am his mother and that I am biased, but he is very, very smart. He knows things that he shouldn't know at his age. And not just how to properly throw a punch so he doesn't hurt his thumb (thanks Shannon), but reading things and math things and critical thinking things.

I guess he should be smart. My husband and I are both engineers. His IQ is 145 and mine is 135, although I still want a do over. I know I can beat him if I can take the test without kids coming and knocking on the door and breaking my concentration. Although he's beaten me at every game of Scrabble and Trivia Pursuit we've ever played. Did I mention I'm competitive? Anyway, back on track, I guess I was always worried that our smarts would cancel each other out and our kids would have trouble in school. But we've been lucky and they both do really well. Luke just continues to surprise me.

Luke likes to do Brain Quest cards in bed some nights instead of reading books. At age 3 he was doing the 4 - 5 year cards. At 4 he was doing the 5 - 6 year cards. Now at 5 he is doing the 6 - 7 year cards. And when I say "doing" I mean doing. He gets them right. He knows the answers. I don't know how but he does.

One of the questions I read him was "What's a shorter way to say 'They were not home?'" He looked at me like I was wasting his time and to get on with the challenge and said, "They weren't home."

So I started to talk to him one night at dinner about LEAP, which is the gifted program at our school. Kids attend LEAP one day a week instead of their regular class, and it offers a unique and challenging learning experience for those that exhibit a high aptitude for learning. I asked him if he wanted to try out for LEAP to see if it was something he might like.

The anxiety appeared on his face instantly when he realized the program would take him away from his class and his friends once a week. With that anxiety came Luke's alter-ego, the baby-voice speaking little kitten named Nip-Nip.

"Nip-Nip doesn't want to go to LEAP. Nip-Nip would miss his friends. Nip-Nip loves his friends. No LEAP, Mama."

"That's fine, Nip-Nip. Tell Luke to finish his dinner."

Maybe even if tested he would not qualify for LEAP. Maybe he's right where he should be. Maybe I'm just being the overly-proud, puffed up mother. It looks like if Nip-Nip has his way, I'll never know for sure. At least he can always fall back on his looks.