The beginnings of scientific curiosity.

Children are a distillation of human curiosity. On their tongues may be heard questions that adults would never think to ask, partly because many adults have stopped actively thinking about the world around them: they just take it for granted. Therefore, the most interesting of questions, can often come from the youngest of interrogators.

Recently, Fintan, 9, has displayed a notable increase in the number of scientific questions, he asks. This is not an entirely expected development since his early interests were elsewhere than science.

A couple of weeks ago, at bedtime, Fintan spoke into the darkness, his voice most thoughtful.

“Daddy: can you shoot bullets in space?”

What a wonderful question, I thought, before answering.

“Yes, in fact the bullet in space would go faster and further than in the atmosphere, because there would be no air to slow it down. What I mean is that if you shoot a bullet in the air, it is at its maximum speed as it leaves the gun. Then it begins to slow down owing to friction with the air. In space, it just wouldn’t slow down.”

The silence was ruminative as he listened to me.

“However,” I continued, “that assumes that you are using an explosive for the bullet that doesn’t need oxygen to work. As long as that is so, you can shoot bullets in space.”

I thought this a very interesting moment, for it called to mind the periods of questioning that Ainan went through and Tiarnan is going through – and the flavour of the question is much the same, too. Perhaps, an interest in science might prove to be universal in my children – which makes me wonder whether it is potentially universal in all children. Do parents snuff out an interest in science, by not answering a child’s questions and engaging with them properly? Why is science seemingly a minority interest, when the questions of children can be so scientific, at their core?

I like the style of question that Fintan comes out with. Typically he identifies, in his question, a problem that is not immediately explicable, or sometimes seems contradictory or impossible, at first glance. His mind is attracted by the exceptional and the bizarre, as well as the mysterious in everyday life. This is a valuable kind of thinking since it is often in an interest in such phenomenon that new things will be noticed – if not new to the world, at least new to the child – and in such thinking such thoughts, does a mind grow and does a child’s conception of the world, deepen.

I am left with one thought, though. What would it be like for my children asking so many scientific questions – as they all do or have done – were I a typically scientifically illiterate parent? Were such a circumstance so, I would be unable to answer their questions, their curiosity would go unfed and it is quite possible that their questioning tongues, would eventually fall silent as they learnt, by disappointing experience that it was pointless to ask, or think of such matters, since no enlightenment would ever be forthcoming. In an uneducated household, the scientifically curious child may find their minds stifled. We are fortunate, therefore, that I lived a childhood of scientific curiosity myself – for that experience has better prepared me for the challenge of raising scientifically curious children. Of course, I am not unaware that one circumstance may cause the other: that being disposed to science, may be reflected in one’s genes, and so, too, reflected in the children. Not only that, but one’s interest (an environmental factor), may spark the interest of the children. I think, however, it is more genetic than environmental, since I have never pushed my interests on to my children, but have always waited for them to take the initiative by asking relevant questions: I have let their characters emerge naturally. Thus it is, I see some genetic influences at work, in how their minds are formed and in the ways in which their thoughts are guided to certain kinds of curiosity.

In all, the situation is very rewarding. For I get to have the chance to nurture minds akin to my own, in some way, just as once I attempted to nurture my own mind, largely unaided (since the nature of my interests created an enforced self-reliance on the matter). It is pleasing that, at least, I can be there for my children, when their curiosity strikes.

Carry on questioning, Fintan...and all my boys!

Posted by Valentine Cawley

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Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.) 

Ainan's teasing sense of humour.

Today, after dinner, I was talking with my sons.

Fintan, seven, confessed, unexpectedly: "I like even numbers." He spoke to me, as if expecting a response from me, but cast a glance across at Ainan.

Ainan's eyes grew mischievous across from me, as if his mind had leapt upon something unsaid.

Fintan's left index finger then pointed across at Ainan, with a short stabbing motion.

"He said: "Even numbers are for girls!"". Fintan was quite put out by this thought of his favourite category of numbers, being corralled for girls' use only.

Now, I knew why Ainan's eyes had seemed so mischievous: they seemed even more so now. A little grin grew on him.

I had to defend poor Fintan's view of the mathematical world, lest he be quite put off it.

"No, that is not true, Fintan: even numbers are for both girls and boys."

Fintan, who had grown stiff beside me, as he had explained Ainan's claim about even numbers, relaxed then, and sat back in his chair.

The conversation then moved on to a discussion of the properties of the numbers themselves, before venturing off into prime numbers.

Fintan was much happier - but now I had had a glimpse into how Ainan, ten, talked to Fintan when I wasn't around. It seems he brought a certain mischievous humour to some of these conversations.

I am glad Fintan mentioned it to me. Now I shall be ready to "untease" him, in future, should it prove necessary.

It is good though, to observe, that Fintan (and Ainan, of course) actually care enough about numbers to make them the subject of after dinner chatter. It should be noted that I didn't introduce the subject: Fintan did. It is funny to note what they think is worth thinking about. Never would I have imagined that numbers could be allocated along gender lines!

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

In the event of fire.

About a week ago, Syahidah asked her two youngest sons:

"What three things would you take, from the house, in the event of a fire?"

Syahidah's voice was neutral, with no invocation to a particular answer or style of response.

Fintan, seven, took the question seriously and answered with certainty: "I would take my blanket, the PS3...and mummy." His sobre eyes spoke of love.

His mummy was touched.

I had been watching this exchange and piped up at that moment.

"What about Daddy?"

Fintan looked over at me, and dismissed the matter, with an implied shrug.

"Daddy," he said, explaining the obvious, "You can run."

Ah. I could look after myself, it seemed. He hadn't, however, considered that the athlete of the house, was actually his mother, not his father. I rather think that he was labouring under an unconscious bias: everything he had chosen to take, was a source of comfort to him - his blanket, which kept him snug and warm at night; his PS3 which he so enjoyed playing - and his mum, all full of hugs and kisses. Fintan, would seek to save all that brought him most comfort in life. I don't suppose a hug from big, cumbersome old Daddy was half as comforting, as one from warm, huggable mummy.

Tiarnan's answer to the same question was rather more inwardly directed.

"The Xbox, the PS3 and the laptop.", he said, quickly.

"But how could you carry all those?", said Syahidah, practically, to her littlest son, four.

"I would have to!", he said, his face all defiant, for an instant, at the thought that reality might challenge his aspirations.

Tiarnan's choices are all things he enjoys doing. They are, in fact, reflections of the same thing: computer games. Perhaps, at his age, he cannot imagine anything more valuable.

Considering this memory, makes me realize that I shall have to sit both Tiarnan and Fintan down and tell them that, in the event of a real fire, the most valuable "things" to save, are people, followed by uniquely irreplaceable items, like art, or writings with only one copy. Apart from Fintan's last choice, all other items are replaceable, and need not be bothered with, in the event of a fire. It will, I think, be a valuable lesson to our two youngest sons.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.htmlI also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

A memory for old age.

Today, I saw something which I rather feel, I shall always remember. To some, it might seem like a little thing, but to me, it is an iconic image.

I was coming home, after having been out, about my day, when I noticed something on the gate, to our house. It is a wide, black gate, made of old, much put upon wood. At the touch of a switch, it parts to let cars or people alike, through. However, the surface of the gate has a patina of dust, clinging to it, partially because of the nature of the paint on it.

Now, there is nothing remarkable about dust on a gate, but to me, there was something remarkable on that gate. All over the surface, little fingers had traced pictures, in the dust. They were pictures of happy, smiling people, joyously at play. I imagined, as I saw them, Tiarnan's and Fintan's fingers, drawing in the dust, expressing what was in their hearts and minds. It is clear, there is much happiness there - but also a desire to express it. They had drawn spontaneously on what their world offered them: a dusty gate.

I wished, in that moment, for a camera, but we have none that is working today (we have lost the charger). I hope, therefore, that the rain, which began moments after I saw the images, doesn't wash them away. I would like a photo of that indelible memory, so that I can show others, what I saw that day and explain to them, what it means to me. On that gate, I saw my children's childhood laid out before me. It was a sweet one, filled with innocent happiness. It made me smile, so, to see what they had done. I knew, in that moment, that I would remember that gate and its traced happiness. I knew that that gate would be forever with me, because it captured the essence of my children, as they are now, at the beginning of their lives.

I only hope I can photograph it, before it is gone.

Thank you Tiarnan (four) and Fintan (seven) for showing me what is in your hearts. I am happy to see it so.

I will remember that drawing of theirs upon the gate: the question is - will they remember it too? Will it become a memory of their childhoods...or will it be lost, for ever, as just one more day, in this eternal summer we live, near the Equator?

I hope to ask them one day, and to remind them of their tracings on the gate, in its obliging dust.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.htmlI also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

A journey around the world

A few days ago, Syahidah, my wife, gave Fintan, our second son, a geography book. It was a substantial book tabulating geographical data on numerous countries around the world. Now, what use do you think this seven year old boy made of a pile of national data? Have a good think.

Well, Fintan began to study the life expectancy and average income per capita, data. His eyes were very intent upon these numbers as he evaluated them, page after page, listing after listing, country after country.

After a while, he looked up and announced: "Well, I definitely DON'T want to live in the Congo!"

Then he continued until he had read the whole book. Finally, he closed it, firmly and gazed at his mother, decision in his eyes.

"I want to live in Japan." he declared.

She smiled, at his words, fully understanding what he had done and appreciating the wisdom of his intent.

Fintan had scoured the world for the one place where he would live the longest and earn the most. It seems, indeed, that Fintan wants to live long and prosper - and has identified location as one matter relating to success in that field.

This action of Fintan, made me wonder about how he sees life. It seems, from this, that he is looking ahead to what is to come and is, already, though just seven, considering what might be a good strategy for living his life so that it is the best it can be, for him. Not that many young children, in my experience, take such a long term view of life. It is good to see Fintan do so, for that, assuredly, will help him navigate his way to his goals, whatever they may be.

Live long and prosper, indeed, my dear Fintan!

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/
Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/
Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

The way to a boy's heart.

"Who wants hugs?", asked Syahidah, of our three sons, a few days ago.

Fintan spoke first: "Me!", he said, hurrying forward.

It was I who actually gave him a hug - a warm embrace of appreciation. He snuggled into it for a moment then suddenly broke away: "Hugs and CHIPS!", he said, as if he felt, perhaps, that they might be mutually exclusive, for, at that very moment, chips were cooking in the oven.

Hugs and chips, indeed: how like Fintan, to be always thinking of his stomach, even as he is being hugged.

The old cliche says that the way to a man's heart lies through his stomach - and, if all men were like Fintan is, as a boy, then it would certainly be true. He is always either eating or thinking of eating. The funny thing is, he is not fat. He is slim, in the sense of having little fat, but chunky in the sense of having quite a lot of solid muscle on him. I can foresee, for him, quite a strong, muscular adolescence to come.

Anyway, Fintan wasn't disappointed: he got his chips, in the end - and his hugs, too. It was, for him, a good evening.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/
Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/
Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

Fintan and the bully.

Fintan has recently started a new school. He is enjoying it and is making lots of friends. However, not everyone wants to be his friend. A couple of days ago, he told us a little tale of life at school.

"Daddy...today a bully came up to me and kicked me in the leg, for no reason."

I found the way he told of the incident very informative. He seemed genuinely puzzled that anyone, that he had never harmed, should wish to harm him. He had not encountered this kind of behaviour before.

"How did you respond?", I enquired, gently, hoping for one particular answer.

"I pushed him down to the ground.", he said, his gaze falling inward, to remember the moment.

"That's good.", I approved, for it was the kind of answer that I had hoped for.

So, Fintan, at six, has encountered his first bully - and, I think, bested him. You see Fintan did what the research on the effects of bullying says a child should do: fight back. It is the biggest mistake in the world, to tell a child to "turn the other cheek". You see if a child lets the bully get away with bullying, that child will never learn to assert themselves, to stand up for themselves, to face difficulties - they will always be hiding from them, and running from them. Fintan did the right thing - even if, I am sure, he did it in his own mild, slightly puzzled way.

Interestingly, the research I read recently says that children who fight back, when faced with bullying grow up to be much more socially competent than children who just hold in their response, and simmer away in resentment at the way they are being treated. The child who fights back, is much the more emotionally mature child. No doubt, there are other benefits, too. Perhaps next time that particular bully thinks of having a go at Fintan, he will pause and reflect that, the first time he tried it, didn't work out too well - and then pass on, and leave Fintan in peace.

So, my advice to Fintan, and any other kid who is bullied is simple: meet every hostility, with one of your own. In time, those who are trying to bully you, will just back off and leave you alone - and go off to pick on easier targets.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/
Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/
Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

How to win the aging race.

About four months ago, I was having a discussion with Fintan, six, about life. I have always found his discussions interesting since there tends to emerge from them, an unexpected wisdom. I find his way of seeing appealing and his quickness to understand refreshing. However, these are things that people who don't know him, tend to overlook - because they don't pause to actually talk to him. Thus, to them, he appears to be just a friendly, gentle boy - but he is much more than that. I suppose, in life, people often fail to see others as they are - because they fail to take the time or effort to get to know them.

I was sitting in the living room with the entire family when Fintan called across the coffee table to me:

“How old is Ramin?”

Ramin is the son of some friends of ours.

“Five”, I said, fairly, but not entirely sure of the answer.

“I’m six.”, he declared, with the merest hint of triumph.

“Yes and I am 41: I win!”, I announced, with a flourish I didn't feel.

“Actually, the sad thing about life and getting older is that the winner is really losing, because he has less time left. So I am winning but losing.”, I observed to Fintan, matter of factly.

There was not, then, the slightest pause before he answered: he threw back his answer as if he were playing tennis and reflecting the ball, even as it crossed the net to him.

“And I am losing, but winning.”

He looked at Ancient me, with his young eyes and there was something of mystery in them. There was no triumph in his declaration, no sense that he actually wanted to win this race. He understood, I felt, about life and mortality and that the fact that his father was "winning", but "losing" was nothing to be happy about. Fintan is like an ocean that not so much stretches off into the distance - as all oceans do - but which is deeper than one could ever know: it is filled with hidden, ever unknowable depths that may never be seen, or felt, but from which, the occasional hint of their existence emerges. So it is, in speaking to Fintan. Occasionally, he throws out a remark that makes you realize, in an instant, that he understands something you might not have expected him to, or that he has noticed something perhaps you didn't even notice yourself.

In an adult, one might call such a quality wisdom - but I am not sure if that is what it should be called in a child. It seems strange to think of a child as wise - since wisdom depends so much on time for reflection, growth and maturity. Perhaps, then, it should be called "insight". Fintan has flashes of unexpected insight and comes out with remarks, at surprising moments, that strike one as philosophical. I think he has a good feeling for life and what it means, yet I don't know where this intuition comes from, or where it might lead.

The funny thing about Fintan is that he is so disarming. His manner is so innocent, so gentle, so guileless that one simply does not expect him to come out with the things he does, when he does. Someone who did not know him well, could easily fail to know him at all. In a way, he is the most inaccessible of my sons, the one least accurately read, at first. It is very clear, for instance, that Ainan is effulgurantly bright; that Tiarnan is whimsical and surprising - but Fintan is not clearly seen: he is like a Teddy Bear that just happens to speak like Socrates, when you actually take the time to listen. Most people just see the teddy bear, however. These are, however, people who don't take the time to get know people. So, in just seeing Fintan's teddy bearishness, they are revealing that they are, themselves, a little shallow in their understanding of the world: they miss what is right in front of them.

Fatherhood is an adventure without limit. I cannot know where it is all going, what it all means, or what shall happen. All I can I do, is to do my best, along the way, to help my children on their individual journeys - whatever those journeys happen to be, or wherever they choose to go. Some people worry about failing as a father - but I don't think you can say that a father has failed, as long as he actually tries to be there, tries to help his children grow in whichever direction they choose. The only fathers who fail, are the ones who never try at all. Well, that is not me. I am trying, everyday, to understand, and to be guided by my growing understanding in how I might help my sons become whatever they choose to be. That choice, of course, is key. Some parents do all the choosing for their children. I think, however, that such children are likely to be chosen into unhappiness.

I don't know the future. I know this, however: my sons will be what they want to be, within the limits of what can be realized with whatever luck we have and whatever resources we can muster. I hope that will be enough.

In the meantime, Fintan will, no doubt, reveal glimmers of his unexpected wisdom and leave traces of conversations to be remembered for years to come.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/
Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/
Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

Fintan's Olympic ways.

Fintan is a bit of a philosopher, though you might not guess it from his curly headed cuteness. To find that out, you have to listen to him, a bit. Only then does it become clear quite what is going on in his capacious head.

A couple of days ago, Fintan, six, was talking to his mother, Syahidah.

He turned to her with a pondering look, in his eyes.

"So...", he began, carefully, as if laying out a thought like a cloth on a table, "The first is the winner. The second is what?"

Syahidah looked down at him, not suspecting where this might be going. "The runner-up.", she said, reaching back to memories of sporting events.

"And the third?", pursued Fintan.

"The third place.", she said, a little at a loss for a more colourful description.

Fintan wasn't satisfied with that. Perhaps it lacked the poetry everything good in life should have.

Syahidah knew that more was required, so she decided to elaborate a bit, and try another tack: "It's like this, you see: the first gets the gold; the second gets the silver; the third gets the bronze."

Fintan's eyes grew alert to the possibilities. This was more like it.

"And what number am I?", he prompted, his voice speeding up a little, as an idea occurred to him. "I want to be the BROWN stuff, the Earth."

Syahidah allowed herself an instant's sheer puzzlement - but Fintan went on too quickly to allow it to last.

"Because then I will get the gold, the silver AND the bronze."

Syahidah was quite dumbfounded by the profundity of Fintan's answer. He wanted the soil in which the metal ores were found, so that he would get ALL the medals: how sharp of him.

Fintan's words had the air of an ancient tale of wisdom - something Aesop might have said, over a fire, at night, to his friends. So, what she learnt, in that moment, is that there is more to Fintan's questions, than might first appear - and he is very quick to see the broader possibilities of a situation and to divine a unique solution, that solves all the problems, at once.

Well done, Fintan, my Gold, Silver and Bronze medal winner.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/
Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm/3305973/
Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/


Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

Kissing the Blarney Stone

There is a legend, in Ireland, that whosoever kisses the Blarney Stone, at the top of Blarney Castle, near Cork, Ireland, shall be bestowed the gift of eloquence. Indeed, the Blarney Stone is otherwise known as the Stone of Eloquence.

Apparently, over the centuries, the legend of the Blarney Stone has led Presidents, leaders, noted eminences, such as Sir Walter Scott and entertainers of renown, to wend their way to Blarney to kiss the Stone.

A couple of days ago, Syahidah, my wife, was telling Fintan, six and Tiarnan, three, the legend of the Blarney Stone. Funnily enough, though I am the Irish one in the family (well, pure Irish...our sons are half-Irish), my wife took it upon herself to tell some old tales of Ireland to the kids. They listened, as usual, most intently, to the tales of this strange world called Ireland, where Daddy comes from - but they have never been. Strange indeed, it is - a land of legends, of leprechauns, mythic Kings and otherworldly beings. It must, to them, seem rather an odd enchanting place, besides the prosaic, predictable Singapore they know so well.

Syahidah explained the Blarney Stone, to Fintan and Tiarnan, with her round amazed eyes: "Anyone who kisses the Blarney Stone is given a special gift: they can talk and talk and talk and never stop talking. They always have something to say."

Fintan looked very serious then and turned to his mummy: "Did Tiarnan kiss the Blarney Stone?"

She would have laughed, but she is too kind to do so. So she just allowed herself a little smile.

"No, he hasn't". Yet, she understood why it might seem so for, of all the little Cawleys in the world, Tiarnan has more talk in him than all the rest put together. His tongue is supercharged with an ever flowing river of words that needs only one thing to set it flowing: that he be awake. Tiarnan talks about everything and anything, often making interesting observations or asking apt questions - or sometimes saying something quite bizarre. That he talks so much is one of the first things strangers remark about him. Yet, he does not talk in an annoying, intrusive way - he talks in a charming, enchanting way. There is something about him, that makes even the most jaded of listeners, want to pause to listen, and find out just what is going through his little head.

Perhaps, I wonder, Tiarnan might, one day, do something that requires ever flowing words. He might be a writer, or an actor, or a politician. I would be most unsurprised if he ends up doing something that requires verbal fluency of a high degree - for that is what he is already showing.

Of course, there is a deeper meaning to Tiarnan's talk. He talks because he thinks. He only speaks so much, because he has so much to say. So, in that sense, it could presage anything. He might not end up as a writer, an actor or a politician - but I am sure he will end up in something that requires fluency of thought for, after all, it is fluency of thought that leads to fluency of speech.

It is too early to tell, of course, what Tiarnan might be. Yet, it is good that my sons present such contrasts. I would say that Tiarnan speaks the most and Ainan the least. However, that is only conditionally true. Ainan can speak superabundantly, when someone engages him in conversation, though he often speaks so as to refute what is being said, to point out its logical flaws - yet, speak he does. Most of the time, though, he is quieter than the others, more involved in his own thought, than in the need to convey it to others. Fintan is somewhere in between. Together, they present quite a spectrum of talkativeness, yet all are brothers. As long-term readers will know, they are different in other ways, too. That variety, of course, provides an ever stimulating environment to their parents. In our household, there seems to be one of just about every kind of person.

One day, I shall bring my family to Ireland. Perhaps, then, we could visit the Blarney Stone - the one Tiarnan does not need to kiss. In fact, of all my sons, I would prevent him from doing so! Carry on talking, Tiarnan!

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

A lesson in sweetness of character.

Sweetness of character is as rare as great brilliance of mind - in fact, it is, rather sadly, probably rarer.

Yesterday, Fintan, six, was eating dinner with us. What was strange was that he only took rice and vegetables, onto his plate.

"Fintan, eat some of the curried chicken!", I urged him.

"No.", he said to me quietly, without rebellion, but with a certain firmness.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to dirty my plate, so that no-one has to wash it up."

As he spoke, he looked down at the cleanliness of his plate. It was unlike everyone else's around the table, in that it hadn't been "dirtied" by curry.

I was struck dumb for a moment, out of reverence for his sweetness. How many other six year olds would think so much of other people, that they would deny themselves food to make life easier for them? I knew that Fintan actually liked chicken, so it wasn't that he was avoiding it for his own interests - he was doing so to protect those of another.

"Eat the chicken, Fintan.", I said, softly, "Don't worry about your plate."

He looked at the chicken then, and reached out slowly to get some, after some inner hesitation.

Never, in all my life, have I seen anyone do as Fintan had done in that moment. I cannot, at this time, know what Fintan will become - but I hope he retains this essential sweetness of character and that it is not bashed out of him, by regular encounters with far less considerate people. Should it remain a part of him, Fintan will be one of those people that it is a pleasure to know, simply for the chance to witness the essence of their being.

Thank you, Fintan, for being as you are: a boy who would starve himself, rather than trouble another person.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

An obsession with cars, in young children.

My boys are obsessed with cars. At least, if not obsessed, then they are highly knowledgeable about them. Sometimes, I think they are speaking a shared secret language filled with abstruse names, and fine discriminations.

On November 3rd, 2009, I was walking Tiarnan and Fintan to the local shop. As we walked together side by side, Tiarnan, three, casually remarked of a passing car: "That's a Toyota Crown."

Now, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't know a Toyota Crown from a biscuit. So, I looked down at Tiarnan, somewhat stunned, at his assertion.

"Is he right?", I asked of Fintan, six.

"Yes.", Fintan, nodded.

I absorbed his confirmation quietly.

Then Fintan, spoke, again, only to make me feel even more ignorant. "There's a Mitsubishi Lancer GLX.", he pointed, at a parked car.

I looked. I saw a car...to me it was nothing more defined than that.

Then, Fintan did it again.

"There's a Mini Cooper S.", he pointed, at a cute white car.

I felt that I should try to play this game, so, when I saw a familiar symbol, on two cars parked in a driveway I said, "There are two BMW Z3s!" I said this because I could read "Z3" on the back of one of them and they both looked rather similar to me.

Fintan looked at me, appraisingly, as if, perhaps, wondering whether to take pity on me and keep silent.

"That is a Z5, Daddy.", he said, at last, indicating one of the cars - the one I hadn't read the symbol on.

Ah. Oh well, at least one of us knows.

I didn't say anything, however: I just looked more closely and saw that he was right, and I was wrong.

This is not an unusual occurrence. Every day, when we are out with the boys, they will remark on passing cars: on their brand, their model name and number, their engine size, their engine design, their horsepower, their acceleration, the presence or absence of turbo chargers and superchargers, whether they are four wheel drive or rear wheel drive - indeed, they speak of anything and everything to do with cars. It is a shared pastime between the brothers, even though they are of very different ages: 3, 6 and 9 - they all speak of these things. It is funny really, because this line of conversation has only emerged in recent months and I just don't know how they have all learnt so much about cars in so short a time.

What gets me, in particular, though, is that Tiarnan is only 3, but is able to make fine distinctions between car models - and Fintan, too. They are funny boys.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

A special request from the Cawley juniors.

A week or two ago, Syahidah asked our three sons if there was anywhere they would like to go, in Singapore. Their answer was unanimous:

"Mohammed Sultan Road, at 7 pm on a Friday.", they said, their bright eyes aglow at the prospect.

She thought this a very strange request. You see Mohammed Sultan Road is a famous nightlife area of Singapore. The Cawley boys at just 9, 6 and 3 years old were really rather too young to be making special requests to visit a nightlife area. To her mind, there flashed an image of her three young boys, out in a clubbing district, amidst the social whirl. It was jarring.

"Why," she asked, without the laugh she no doubt felt like making, "do you want to go there on a Friday night?"

"Because there you can see lots of Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Maseratis!", they replied, as if it could not have been more obvious.

It was then that she laughed. It was the boys' love of CARS, not nightlife, that was on their minds.

In recent months, all three of the Cawley boys have become interested in cars - and in no small way, too. Their speech is filled with references to engine designs, horse power, turbochargers, superchargers, acceleration, which car has beaten which car and so on. The funny thing is, even little Tiarnan, all of three years old, makes references to them. His tongue, too, speaks of "Bugatti Veyrons" and "Lamborghinis".

I suppose we should be thankful that their interest in Mohammed Sultan Road is such an innocent one! Then again, it was rather observant of them to notice the right time and place, to find supercars and sports cars in abundance, in the first place.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals. If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Fintan's big cycling day.

This is a simple post of congratulations, so that, one day, my son Fintan, six, might know exactly, on which day, he learnt to cycle, properly.

Today, Fintan tried to cycle, on a bicycle without support wheels, for the very first time. He was advised by his brother, Ainan.

Fintan was most pleased to find that he could cycle, without any support rather quickly, so that, though it was his first attempt to do so, he was balancing well, without falling almost at once.

Well done Fintan!

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals.If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Tiarnan's way with compliments.

The other day, Tiarnan, three, watched his brother Fintan, six, racing around.

"Fintan, you are SO fast.", he observed, to Fintan, who stopped to listen to this praise.

Tiarnan looked at him, in seeming wonder. "You are fast like GOLD."

I am not sure how gold is fast, but Fintan liked the comparison.

Then Tiarnan added: "You are my golden monkey!"

I don't know what Fintan thought of this, but it does seem a bit of a barbed compliment. Then again, maybe Tiarnan appreciates the qualities of a monkey and thinks it a compliment. I haven't asked him.

Whatever the case, it made for a funny moment.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals.If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

The art of a child.

Sometimes, my children draw odd things. It is not, necessarily, that the drawings themselves look odd...but when you ask them what it is that they have drawn, the answers can sometimes be far from expected.

A few days, Ainan, nine, and Fintan, just turned six, were drawing. Both had chosen to draw something based on circles. Fintan's consisted of a couple of concentric circles, standing about being mysterious - and Ainan's was truly enigmatic: there was a circle, with various other things intersecting with it in a manner which escapes easy description, in easy words. It looked like some ancient hieroglyphic, from an undiscovered dead tongue.

Of course, seeing these mysterious objects drawn made me ponder what they were. No immediate answer came to mind, so I had to ask:

"Fintan: what's that?"

"A shockwave.", he observed, as if nothing could be more plain to see.

Now that I knew what it was, it did, indeed, look like a shockwave. The question that then came to me was: why was Fintan, all of six, drawing a shockwave?

Then I asked Ainan: "What is yours, then?"

"The LHC: the Large Hadron Collider.", he revealed, appraising it as he spoke.

Ah. No wonder I hadn't guessed. Yet, again, now that I knew what it was, it did, indeed, look like the Large Hadron Collider. He had even drawn the particle detectors.

It sometimes seems to me that my children live in a strange world. At times, it doesn't seem like a child's world at all. They can be very arcane, can my children, as children go. Their knowledge sometimes seems absurdly abstruse for kids yet in single digits, when it comes to years. Yet, that is how they are. They find pleasure in things that other children might find only boredom in - and I suppose that is a good thing, for the world needs people who find shockwaves and Large Hadron Colliders interesting enough to draw. In fact, we wouldn't enjoy so many things in our daily lives, were there not children who liked such things - for they become adults who work with such things, to the general benefit.

There is only one worry in all this: can they share their interests and viewpoints with other kids of their own age? What would they think, for instance, of Ainan's Large Hadron Collider? I cannot imagine that they would greet it with much enthusiasm. Luckily, however, Ainan finds his own enjoyment in such things, and, hopefully, that is enough for him. Anyway, he can always share it with his little brothers, who are remarkably open to him.

Now, what do you think Tiarnan, three, had drawn? Rather sweetly, he had drawn his mother's skirt, fluttering in a breeze, all graceful lines and curves.

We were both touched.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals.If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Brotherly love vs. Harry Potter.

Which is more powerful in the life of a child: brotherly love or the magical wizard, Harry Potter, lord of the box office? Well, yesterday, that was put to the test.

Syahidah had planned to take Fintan and Tiarnan to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. This seems quite apt since they are both "half-bloods", themselves...though, I have yet to secure the title "Prince" for them!

When Syahidah arrived at the cinema, where I waited, she had only Tiarnan in tow. Fintan was nowhere to be seen.

The story turned out to be a sweet one. On leaving for Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, Syahidah noted that Fintan was hesitating.

"Are you coming?", she asked him.

"I don't want to see Harry Potter: Ainan will be lonely.", he said, looking at his brother who was soon to be left behind.

Syahidah objected that he would not.

"You can't see it...but he is very upset.", he said, concernedly. Perhaps the "upset" he thought he saw, was the thought of being left home alone, without his brothers.

Syahidah relented and let Fintan stay with his brother. She was touched to see that he cared so much about his elder brother that he would forego the film she knew he so wanted to watch.

As it went, however, it was lucky that Fintan didn't go to see Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince - for it was a dire concoction. Syahidah judged it as being up there with Transformers 2 as among the worst films she can recall seeing. Truly, Hollywood is churning out trash these days. She particularly criticized the PLOT as utter nonsense - and that would seem to be J.K "I don't plagiarize, honest" Rowling's fault. She also observed that it had disturbingly close similarities to elements of the Lord of the Rings - except that LOTR was fun, well put together and skillful - none of which could be claimed for Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince.

Now, I wasn't able to see Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince myself, at that time...even though I had gone to the cinema: so I consider myself lucky not to have wasted another couple of hours in a darkened room.

Given the creative poverty of Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, it is fortunate that Fintan's brotherly love is stronger than his taste for all things Potter. It seems, therefore, that his brotherly love has wisdom in it, too, as well as sweetness.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals.If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Fintan turns down Superhero opportunity.

A couple of days ago, Syahidah my wife, made an interesting proposition to Fintan, five.

"Fintan", she began, with the air of something important to come.

He looked up at her, hearing her tone and waited.

"If I sent you to a hospital and they could replace your arms and legs with metal ones - and made you superstrong, would you do that?"

His consideration took but an instant.

"No. Because then I would be heavy."

His eyes seemed to weary at the prospect of dragging so much weight around. That, therefore, put paid to Fintan's transformation into a superhero. He would rather be light on his feet, than clank around all day, great in strength, yes...but, more importantly to him, great in weight too.

As for my perspective: Fintan doesn't need to change, to become a "superhero"...for he is a hero, enough for me, such is his spirit. Be just the way you are Fintan - for that is more than enough.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Happy Father's Day, 2009

Happy Father's Day, all. At least, it is Father's Day in Singapore...I am not sure if other countries celebrate it on the same day.

Syahidah and our children have been abundantly thoughtful today. I am grateful for all the surprise gifts - from each of them. Even Tiarnan, three, made something for me, so it was most pleasing. So, thank you to Ainan, Fintan and Tiarnan for your welcome gifts.

Syahidah went to exceptional lengths to make this a special day - and I am thankful for each of her surprises. Thank you, Syahidah!

As for my own father: Happy Father's Day, to you, too! (If you get to read this.)

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

The Art of Learning Patience.

Today, I was with my two younger sons in a food court. These are typically Singaporean food outlets at which a large range of different stalls offer various foods and drinks of several cuisines. They are usually laid out with the food stalls on the periphery - as this one was - with seating in the central area.

"What do you want?", I asked my three year old son, Tiarnan.

"Green tea.", he said, his little finger pointing out the canned drink in question. This is a popular drink in Singapore and consists of brewed green tea with sugar added.

Fintan also indicated the tea.

Finding a table was hard. The first table we went to was empty barring a single girl.

"Can we sit here?" I asked.

"Taken." she said, of the empty chairs.

I didn't believe her. You see, before she answered she took a long appraising look at my young children and seemed to decide that they wouldn't make good, proximate, company.

After some hunting, we found someone who agreed to let Tiarnan and Fintan (five) sit at their table.

I left them with the green teas, cups full of ice - on a mission to buy a local dessert.

The queue was quite long at the dessert stall. So it was about ten minutes before I was served. As I waited, I looked over regularly at my two boys, some twenty five metres away. They seemed quite happy. They spent most of the time facing each other, as if in conversation. Occasionally, I saw them toy with their cups. I thought them to be enjoying their drinks. It was notable that they did NOT run around, nor unsettle the people next to them.

After perhaps a dozen minutes I returned and sat down with the dessert in hand.

Fintan looked sidelong at me and picked up his can of green tea - and tilted it subtly towards me so that I might see its top.

It hadn't been opened. I looked across at Tiarnan's: neither had his. I had forgotten to open their cans for them!

I was at once struck with the maturity and control with which they had sat so long waiting for me to return, considering that neither of them had actually had a drink to nurse during that time. I felt a flash of unexpected parental pride. I was impressed. It was a little thing - but, given their ages: three and five, I really didn't expect them to have been able to sit so patiently, so long, without anything to drink or to do, other than to talk to each other. Clearly, they have found ways of conversing that fill the time more than adequately.

I opened the cans and let them enjoy them, as I smiled a little to myself. It is funny how, even at the most unexpected moments, one's children can be surprising - even if in ways that might be overlooked, if one wasn't attentive to them.

Thank you, Tiarnan and Fintan, for having learnt enough of the art of patience, to have waited for me so long.

(By the way, no one ever did sit down at the "taken" table I had first enquired at - at least not in the time we were there.)

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)