I knew this day would come. It has probably been here for some time, but over the weekend this notion has crystalized in my brain.
We spent a lot of time this weekend watching basketball. When we weren't watching one of Bennett's games during the Tiger Classic, we were watching other games in between.
Gavin and I sat together most of the time and although we were looking at the same things happening before us, we were not thinking about the same things, that is for sure. While I am watching the nuances of zone defenses and trying to figure out how to teach Bennett to be a better rebounder, Gavin has one thing on his mind: Numbers. The kid loves math. He loves numbers and sees patterns everywhere.
Here's a smattering of the questions I heard from him as we sit watching basketball, a sport he has zero interest in.
Gavin: Dad, have you noticed that none of the players' jerseys have a number higher than 5?
Me: No, I didn't notice that. That *is* interesting, though.
Gavin: Dad, do you know how you can tell if any number is divisible by 3?
Me: Blank stare. Confused blinking.
Gavin: What?
Me: I have no idea what you're talking about but I love that you know this, Buddy.
Gavin: Yeah.
Gavin: Dad, I think I can predict who is going to win the game.
Me: How's that, Buddy?
Gavin: The team with the most prime numbers on their jerseys usually win. See, the black team has alot of prime numbers: 2, 5, 7, 13, 23, 31 ... the other team only has a couple of prime numbers.
Sure enough, the black team won. Then I spent the rest of the tournament looking for prime numbered jerseys. :)
This was just one instance in a long list of reasons why I think I have the coolest 13 year old on the planet. No, he doesn't excel in organized sports. But he reads books like most people eat food. He knows more about computers than most adults I know. He's in 8th grade, but is taking two 9th grade classes at the high school. Honors classes. Straight A's across the board. He's half way to acquiring his black belt in Tae Kwon Do after only a year of lessons. Oh, and in his free time he's taking an Intro to Cryptography class online from Stanford University. And to top it all off, he'll probably be taller than me within a few months.
And I'm ok with that. :)
(End of Bragfest. Thank you for indulging me.)
Love this kid!
