Oh Yeah? Well My Kid Is So Smart, He's Dumb!

I know we all think that WE have the smartest kids.  But my kids really are really smart.  Moose is a wiz at math and he's mature beyond his 7 years.  Rocky is not quite two, but showing signs of being scary smart.  And thus the topic of the night.  My kids are so smart, they are dumb.

That doesn't sound good.  Of course my kids aren't dumb.  I just said they are smart.  But they are so smart that they are dumb in their own special ways, sometimes edging towards the level of stupid.  Before you think I'm a bad mom (maybe you are already there), hear me out.

Max is now at the age where sarcasm, active ignoring (as opposed to active listening), and sass have entered our lives and invaded at a rapid speed.  Max is smart enough to know what it means to do just the request at hand, and not a step further.  For example, tonight we asked him to find his pjs.  He KNOWS this is followed by taking a shower.  Yet, I found him downstairs milling around. 
"What are you doing?" I asked. 
"Nothing," says Moose.  
"Aren't you supposed to be taking a shower?"
"Dad just told me to find my pjs.  So I did."
Max knows that I can't really argue with this.  We did just ask him to find his pjs.  But he's smart enough to know that he should be jumping in the shower too, but since we didn't specifically tell him to, he could get away with wandering aimlessly through the house.  This is purposeful stupidity.  He's not stupid, quite the contrary.  But he's acting stupid on purpose to prove a point.  I don't know if you can understand what I'm trying to explain here, but I think if you have had a 7 year old living in your house, you probably know exactly what I'm talking about.  It makes me crazy.  I swear by the time he's 18, he will be thinking independently, as well as wanting to take a shower without being asked. 

Now Rocco is a different matter.  Rocco is scary smart.  It actually frightens me.  But he's so smart that he does really dumb things because he's figured out ways to be super dangerous.  Like turning on the fireplace by standing on the toy bus with wheels.  Or prying off the outlet covers so he can plug in the vacuum.  Or standing on the chair that is already put up on top of the table so he can jump higher.  You get the point.  He's brilliant but like any scientist, has to test every theory before he stumbles on the right one.  Unfortunately, his experiments are on himself and lead to really dumb consequences. 

So while my children are very smart, this leads them to dumb behavior.  One acts dumb on purpose while the other takes my breath away with his stupid "tricks."  Harvard, here we come!