A fine line between intelligent and smart-arse...

       I posted a status on Facebook the other day about an exchange between my son and me. I've been thinking about it since then and I want to share it in a little more detail. We had been driving around town for a while running errands and had just pulled up to our apartment building. I was listening to a song that I was really into at the moment, so I waited to turn off the car and get out for a moment in order to finish the song. Beckham was a little impatient after being in and out of the car all day and said to me, "Dad, can you come and unbuckle me?" "Just a second," I say, "I want to finish this song before we go in." He thinks about this for a brief second before asking me, "Do you have this song on your computer?" "Yes," I reply. "Well you can listen to it when we get inside. Come and unbuckle me please." I had mixed reactions at this point. Part of me was ready to give him a time out for talking back like that, but the for the most part I was pretty impressed at his thought process. After being a bit speechless for a moment I said, "Well I can't argue with that logic, buddy. Let's go."

       I can't be too surprised by this response from my son. He is an intelligent kid and I've always known that there's a fine line between smart and smart-ass. I was generally a pretty respectful kid, but if there was anything I was guilty of it was being a bit lippy from time to time. I had a run-in or two with a teacher in high school when I felt that I was right and they were wrong. It's a hard line to navigate; I want my son to think and explore and question authority, yes, but of course from time time he is going to question mine. I don't think it's possible to have a reasonably smart kid without their questioning authority at times. You can't have it both ways. This is not to say that Beckham is a genius. What he is is someone who thinks a lot and this is evidenced by stories such as this one. While he does whine occasionally when he doesn't get his way, I am happy to say that for the most part he tries his best to come up with a logical argument to support his case. Unfortunately for him I was not swayed the other day by his claim that he needed an equal number of Transformer toys at both his houses, and that he had three at his mom's house and only one at mine. I have the benefit of being the dad and just saying no without any explanation. I know, however, that as gets older his arguments are going to become more mature and that both his mother and I will receive phone calls from upset teachers occasionally; nevertheless, if I had to choose between an intelligent child that talks-back and a less intelligent one that never questions anything, it's an easy decision. And like I've always said, better a smart-ass than a dumb-ass.