Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Kane's results from taking the SAT and the ARMT (Alabama Reading and Math Test) at the end of last year finally came in and it's official- he's a genius. Seriously, the kid got a perfect score on several different sections, and is in the 95th to 100th percentile in most subjects. He's smart like Reed is big. He's been invited to join the scholar's bowl which is the team of nerds that travels to other schools to see if they can out-nerd the other school's nerd-team. It's okay; I can say that because I was on the nerd-team in high school. I'm saying it from the inside.

Anyway, he's really freakin' smart. NOW do you see why I start to rip off my own fingernails when he says he can't remember to put his socks in the dirty clothes or put his dishes in the dish washer?

(For any of you who don't see, it's the irritation. That's the answer.)

I know, I KNOW, that there is at least one person right now who is thinking about leaving a comment about how Kane is just SO SMART that he is INCAPABLE of thinking about mundane, every-day things, that he has SO MUCH going through his head at any given moment that I cannot reasonably expect him to think about such tiny details as where his soiled clothing ends up at the end of the day.

To that person I say, you're probably right. You know, for me, dropping my clothes in the hamper or picking up my dishes after I eat is automatic; it's almost an autopilot kind of thing. I don't think about it, I just do it. It's kind of like how people automatically move or duck when someone throws something at them. Kane, on the other hand, gets hit with stuff all the time. Seriously, literally, he never seems to be able to get out of the way. He gets hit in the face with balls, and he doesn't pick up his socks. That's the price he has to pay for being able to recall every second of every episode ever of Naruto.

6 comments:

Susan @ Blackberry Creek said...

No matter how smart he is, he's still a kid. I've found that people are not physically able to pick up their socks and underwear until they are at least 21. No matter how smart.
--Aunt Suzie

Anonymous said...

At least now you can rest assured that Jude is also a genius. Perhaps a super genius who can bend spoons with the power of his mind and will underwear to morph into another dimension.

--kat

Thom said...

Socks on the floor is such a small thing when compared to a strong mind, but I understand your frustration.

When he does pick up his socks try rewarding him with comic books or a trip to the library (just the two of you), or a candy bar, something.

He's smart, once he see the reward of doing something he'll pick up whatever you want.

Anonymous said...

So here are my unsought suggestions. Some of these are a little silly, but you know your child and will know what would work best for them...

1) Create a "socks box". At the end of the week, if the socks box is filled up with dirty socks (note not clean socks just thrown in), he can trade it in for doing something that he will enjoy and that you find reasonable (you all need to agree on this before hand).

2) Go around the house and collect everything that he has left out of place into a container. Let him see all of the belongings and tell him that he won't be able to get them back until he has "paid" you back for all of your work (cleaning up after him). This can involve cleaning up after you, walking the goat, cleaning the bathtub, washing the car, etc. Just make sure that it would be slightly more aversive and time consuming than actually picking up after himself.

3) Create a chores chart for him and everyone else. Maybe his job could be dusting and yours could be picking up his socks and clothes. The point here is that everyone does something productive for the family and helps out where others might have trouble.

4) Let him go without clean socks if he does not put them in the dirty laundry. Let him wear dirty socks or no socks at all.

Anonymous said...

I think he might like wearing dirty socks...

Anonymous said...

That's ok, so do I. Febreze does wonders for swampfoot.