The Boy

As promised (although a little late) I wanted to share my thoughts of my son. At six years old he is probably one of the most unique children I have ever met. He is at times a complete loner - loving to play alone and be by himself, and at other times he craves attention and must be sitting RIGHT NEXT TO US (he still doesn't understand personal space). His intelligence blows us away every day and I am beginning to think he has a photographic memory as he can spout off information about the most random subjects. Last night when JP was reading his bedtime story - okay, we don't get to read stories anymore - when they were reading about the planets, Bubba was beside himself that the book was incorrect in how many moons Jupiter has. He demanded to know when the book was written. We have recently completed these books:

The Human Body was a few weeks ago and I put my foot down and said I was not reading a bedtime story about the pancreas . . . just doesn't leave you all warm and fuzzy to go to sleep. JP has been doing most of the reading the last few weeks especially since he has moved on to the Solar System. Of course he can read these books without our help but he still likes the companionship of having one of us read to him each night which I am not ready to pass up.

Last week he participated in the school district's gifted testing so we can determine if he qualifies for the Self-Contained Gifted Program. We are very excited that the PV School District may be adding another classroom for this program at the elementary school right down our street. This is where we want him to go to school regardless and we will be extremely lucky if this program pans out. It will give him the additional challenges he will need to keep him motivated since he is far beyond the average first grader in terms of reading and math (not to mention general knowledge about science and geography). I don't know when we will find out if he is "gifted" but I know he is and I really don't need a test to tell me that. They gave us this great check list to help parents determine if their child is gifted and what I figured out is a) I was not a gifted child and b) JP was clearly gifted. I was what you would label a "Bright Child." This means I was smart and I enjoyed school but I was more motivated by accolades and grades than about learning. Gifted children are not typically motivated by grades; they enjoy learning. There are several more criteria and Bubba fits them all.

Beyond reading his passions are Legos and baseball. He can play either for hours at a time and has even created a baseball game out of his Legos. He is sensitive and loving and can be very emotional when something goes against him. He loves his sister and will play baseball and Legos with her and be silly with her. Just yesterday he gave up 50 cents so she could ride in the Mickey Mouse car at Babies R Us (in fairness he thought he was going to get to ride but figured out quickly that he didn't fit in the car). He also paid her $5 to poop in the toilet . . . .