I'll take "4th Grade Math" for $1,000, Alex!

As a parent, you try not to compare your kids...well, not TOO often, anyway. [One exception is the popular Parental Tactic of pointing out desired behavior in one child that you wish the other to emulate. As in: "Look at how your brother picked up all of his clean laundry and put it away (delivered in an upbeat tone). You should do that, too! (encouragingly) Right this minute, as a matter of fact (more firmly, with a Mom Frown). Or no PS3 for the weekend...sweetie! (dripping with honey once more.)] After all, each child is a unique individual, with their own character traits, strengths and weaknesses, and personality quirks. Besides that, they also develop skills at their own pace...so really it's pointless to even discuss the differences in siblings. But, sometimes you just can't help it...

With my boys, there's a 3-year age gap between them, which didn't matter so much until Derek landed in Middle School, while Riley continued his stint in Elementary. I recently chronicled the 7th-grader's bumpy first steps into adolescence, with the (hopefully temporary) memory loss and sudden slide in organizational ability. For all of the frustration and annoyance this has caused, it has also led to a renewed appreciation for the 4th-grader's...scholastic leanings. Allow me to elaborate: On the one hand, Riley can complain with the best of them about having to buckle down and do his homework, and he sometimes tries to get us to believe that Math, in particular, is "too hard". However...he chooses to spend hours at a time creating fictional lineups for imaginary games (baseball, football, whatever he's in the mood for), acting out the contests, and charting the results. That's right, he practices Statistics...for fun...in his spare time. (I know, these words don't make sense to me, either...and I gave birth to him!) And then, one Saturday, he set up a trial with his Hex Bugs (small, battery powered toy creatures that skitter to and fro, somehow providing nearly endless amusement) to find out how long it took them to complete each section of their track. Using paper and a marker, he recorded each test run on a scatter plot...then calculated the mean, median, mode, and range of the data. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is not how 9-year olds are supposed to amuse themselves on the weekend, right? Sheesh....

Fortunately, his nerdling tendencies (and I mean that in only the proudest, most supportive of ways) have thus far carried over into his actual schoolwork as well. Unlike his--ahem--situationally-attention-deprived older brother, Riley has managed to maintain a grip on his daily assignments and longer-range projects. For instance, he just completed one in Math, in which he was required to pose a research question, gather responses from a sample of people, compile the results using an appropriate graphic format, and present all of the information on a well-designed poster. And this he did...all by himself...finishing days ahead of the deadline.

"What's Your Favorite Season?"

So for now, even though I'm not comparing (yeah, right) I'm extremely grateful to have one relatively low-maintenance child--at least in the academic realm...because I probably need to go help the other one locate one of his crucial supplies, or remind him to turn something in, or ask him if anything major is due for credit tomorrow...