"It's only child-proof for kids who can't read."

How smart are kids these days? I would say, judging from my 7 year old, that kids are very smart. I'm sure my parents said the same thing when I was younger and I'm sure I thought I was awesome but now I'm the adult and I'm paying for it. My 7 year old Logan comes up with some interesting thoughts and concepts. There are times where I have to have him repeat it because it's so out there, yet logical, that it takes me a moment to wrap my brain around it. He's does great in math and he reads a grade level higher than others in school. I can't even spell anything out in adult conversation because he's already putting it together. It's crazy how fast he picks things up. One evening my wife and I were making Spagetti for dinner and he was saying that he did not want any cheese because he doesn't like square cheese. I laughed at him and said,

"Buddy, you love cheese."

"Yeah, but not square cheese."

"Well, mom is shredding it up right now so it's no longer a square."

"Umm...dad?"

"Yeah?"

"The shredded pieces are the shape of a rectangle so it's still somewhat of a square."

I froze and I felt my face get hot. I looked at my wife as she tried her hardest to hold back from laughing.

"He got you there Rich."

What else could I say? He got me and all I could do was laugh and think, "Crap! This kid is too smart for his own good."

He's clever and blows my mind at times. He also listens way more than I realize. I mean, we as adults speak in front of our kids and either use codes or spell things out in order to converse without them knowing what exactly is going on. It's not until they repeat something you've said that you realize your kid has been paying attention the whole time. For example, Logan and I had gone to the store and a song came on the radio where the female lead singer was screaming into the mic.

"Dad, are you sure that's a girl?"

"Yeah buddy, I saw this band live and they're all girls."

"Wow, they're awesome!"

"Heck yeah! I wonder how they can scream like that without hurting their throats?"

"Well dad...I guess they just put their back into it."

I busted up laughing. Once again he got me. I always say, "Put your back into it", and I don't ever think he's paying that much attention to what I say but when he repeated it without skipping a beat it cracked me up. Kids are pretty clever and when they read it makes it harder to hide certain things. Another example of how smart kids are comes from a conversation between my wife and our son.

"Logan, can you bring me my vitamins?"

"Yeah, I'll open it and bring it to you."

"I don't think you can open it Logan. It's child-proof."

Logan opens the bottle and brings it to his mom.

"Logan, how'd you do that?"

"Mom, it's only child-proof for kids who can't read. See, it tells you how to open it on the bottle."

How true is this? I mean, seriously? The only reason stuff is child-proof is because at a young age kids have not yet learned to read. The directions are right out in the open for adults because we can read. See...kids are a lot smarter than us. They learn new and advanced subjects a lot earlier than we did because kids absorb things like a sponge. It's amazing how much information they take in and distribute and they are doing this without the burden of every day life. I think they could take over the world if we let them. The only reason we stay in power is because we're bigger. So, how many of you have dealt with a similar situation? How many of you see yourself in your kids when their doing something clever. I know I've seen myself many times through my son. He is in fact a version of myself at that age, but he's evolving and surpassing me. It's definitely a sight and something great to experience.