My little Rainman

One of the items on the "Is my child ready for kindergarten?" checklist is TRIES TO COUNT TO 10. Really? I hadn't realized how advanced Ian's math skills were until I saw this checklist and had a conversation with Heather. Not only can Ian count beyond 100, but he can do addition and subtraction too. I know for a fact that he isn't using his fingers either.

The other day we were in the car with Jeff driving and Ian was doing his usual announcement of what the speed limit is (Daddy, speed limit is 25). Only this time he was adding 5 to let Jeff know how fast he can legally go. (But you can do 30). Ian was able to successfully do this no matter what the speed limit was. It had become so natural for me to hear this that I didn't realize he was adding 5 to the number each time until Jeff pointed it out.

Last Monday, we were dealing with a pretty gross situation that I now know was due to him getting a stomach bug the next day. He went through 3 pairs of underwear before school even started and then during kindergarten orientation, we had to change him into his back-up pair we keep in the car. I was on the phone with Heather later in the afternoon telling her we threw 4 pairs of underwear away (I simply refuse to even consider washing it). I said to Heather, it is a good thing we started with 27 pairs this morning. Almost immediately after Ian hearing me say this, chimes in with, "We have 23 pairs left". WOW!! Again, I didn't realize how spectacular this calculation was until Heather commented on what just transpired.

Ian gets on the phone with Heather and she asks him several more math problems to see if that first one was a fluke. No sireeeebob! I've got GoodWill Hunting on my hands! Not even 21 + 5 stumped Ian.

But wait! There's more! Ian asked what time his birthday party at My Gym is set to start. I told him it begins at 3:00pm. Ian said he wanted to get there at 2:50pm. I asked Ian, "If we get there at 2:50pm, how early will we be?" Ian very quickly answered "10 minutes". Then Ian said, "if anyone shows up at 3:20pm, they will be late'. I asked, "How late will they be?" Again, Ian answered without hesitation, "20 minutes."

And the icing on the cake came on Wednesday when I picked Ian up at school. He asked if he could go into the bike room with his friend Harper and play for a little before we headed home to put Sam down for a nap. I said, "Ian, we can stay for 5 minutes only". Ian then replied with, "Harper, you get the big bike for 3 minutes and I'll get it for 2 minutes."

I've said it before, I'll say it again. My boy is a genius!

Full disclosure -- Ian can't read. We are working on this. Kids have all areas they excel in. Math just happens to be Ian's.