Outsmarted

My children outsmarted me. I don’t mean they manipulated me or pranked me. They out-knowledged me.

As a young mother, I found it very rewarding to share answers when they asked questions. How do you spell Santa Claus? Did God really make it flood? Where is my other shoe? I knew things.

But I began to notice a change once they entered elementary school.

Stephanie was assigned a project requiring her to make a model of the earth showing plate tectonics. I had no idea what that was. Was it a recent discovery?  Seems it began 3.5 billion years ago and was confirmed as a theory by scientists in the 1950’s. You would think one of my science teachers might have mentioned that to me. I looked for the actual theory. “The earth’s crusts and many associated phenomena resulting from the interaction of rigid lithospheric plates which move slowly over the underlying mantle.” Stephanie finished the project and used it to explain all those big words to me.

As they continued through school, Ben began to use terms that I did not recognize and frequently felt compelled to correct me when I mispronounced words in our conversations.

Jennifer became my source of information on biology or human anatomy which included (and still includes) healthy eating and physical fitness.

From then on, I was co-student in their learning adventures and my education continues today.

I was the dissertation typist when Stephanie received her doctorate in Educational Technology. We talked about how technology could be used in the classroom. She asserted that tools are provided and support given but teachers have to find ways to teach that they can do comfortably and with success. During the pandemic I had a better understanding of how that could work for students and educators.

Jennifer is finishing her Master’s Degree in non-profit management. One night, we stayed up late discussing her paper on establishing boards for non-profits and what financial review and expectations are reasonable.  (All those years in church and in cheerleading gave her a background in fundraising.) I was familiar with the traditional concept that lower overhead means more available money, but I learned that sometimes you have to spend more money on appropriate staffing and advertising to receive more donations which can be invested to endow larger programs.

Ben received his Graduate Degree in Global History and we sat together and discussed his thesis on Rus Vikings and their relationship with Islamic Empire under the Abbasid Caliphate. I will never be able to correctly pronounce all the words he used, but I did learn that historical precedence is mirrored in the culture and economics of modern societies.

Secondhand smoking is dangerous for your health, but secondhand knowledge is a great way to learn.

Last week Geordan showed me his Pokemon books listing the imaginary characters and their traits and features. He read them to me carefully with plenty of stops between pages to confirm I understood. You never know when I will need to share with others that Lapras (a Transport Pokemon) evolves into Snorlax (a Sleeping Pokemon.)