Good morning Daddy!

There are many ways to say “good morning”. My boys have a way all of their own.

This morning, I came down the stairs from my bedroom, into the corridor that runs alongside the TV room. Before I came into sight of my three sons, I heard Tiarnan’s conspiratorial whisper: “Daddy is coming!”

I knew, therefore, that something was afoot. Perhaps they were playing computer games, when they shouldn’t be? I wondered.

I rounded the corner, to see Tiarnan sprinting off in what I supposed to be the direction of one of his other brothers: there seemed a togetherness in his footsteps that hinted at another and, after all, he had had to have been speaking to someone. There was no-one else in the room.

I walked towards the kitchen paying no further heed to them.

Something flitted past me, quickly: a bright blur over my shoulder.

Suddenly, I felt a little twinge in my back. I had been shot, by a Nerf gun.

I looked behind me and there, several metres away, with a mischievous little grin, stood Tiarnan, four, his gun still raised. He seemed jubilant. It was plain, therefore, that it was his bolt, that had struck me. A few steps further back, behind him, stood Fintan, similarly armed. It was clear that he, too, had been taking a shot at me.

“Good morning Daddy!”, piped Tiarnan.

“Good morning, Tiarnan!”.

He was all smiles as he stood there reloading his gun. The boys liked to play with their Nerf guns. These, for those who don’t know, fire foam rounds and are quite harmless, but great fun for kids, particularly boys. By hunting me down before breakfast, as they just had, they were including me in their games. In a way, it was an honour, because I know how much fun it all is, to them. By including me, they were speaking, in the way boys do, by their actions, of their sense of togetherness with me. I was not just a bystander…but a participant to be included, in their own private world. I was, if you will, an "honorary brother". Oddly, Tiarnan has, on occasions, referred to me as a "brother". I know how special that term is, for him...so I feel quite flattered.

Happy hunting boys!

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 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.

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Tiarnan, the brave

Last night Tiarnan, fourteen months, did something very interesting.

He pointed to a gap between the bed and the wall. He found it curious...like he was asking: "What is down there?"

I took the opportunity to tease him. I slid my hand down the side of the bed, then pretended some unseen monster had caught my hand and started tugging at it, making me thrash around, with a bit of added, appropriate-seeming, noise from my mouth, rather like a dog gnawing a bone.

I suddenly pulled my hand out, unscathed.

He looked at me in a kind of wonder, his eyes wide, his mouth quiet. Then he did something rather brave, considering what he had just seen. He slid his hand slowly down the side of the bed, clearly waiting for the unseen "Thing" to grab a hold of his hand and thrash him around.

Nothing happened.

He turned to me suddenly and said: "Daddy, look! It's gone!" Then he took his hand out.

I pretended to be surprised at this and slid my hand down there again, and began to thrash about, once more, accompanied by my bone-gnawing sound.

He smiled, and understood at once. He put his hand down there...and began to thrash around like me, with his own impression of the bone-gnawing sound. He understood that I had been teasing him. He took his hand out and smiled broadly at me.

What impressed me was the initial courage he showed in putting his hand down there, when I had convinced him, the first time, that some unseen creature would attack his hand. He had seen daddy do it. He had seen what happened to daddy - but he went ahead all the same. Brave boy.

The second time he did it, was also interesting, for it showed how quick he was to understand that it was just a game.

Tiarnan's sentences are also becoming longer. That was an implicit five word utterance. (Daddy, look! It is gone!"). Again, one may note that the structures are grammatically correct - just as his three word sentences were when he was eight months. It is interesting to observe what a good grasp of grammar even a young baby may have. It seems to me that would take a lot of analytical power to work out so young.

(If you would like to know more of Tiarnan or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, and Fintan, three, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)