I got a phone call from my mom a few weeks ago. Apparently, she and my dad were talking about how because I'm smart and Alinna's smart, that Sam will be incredibly smart.
I've been thinking ever since about how important it is to me for Sam to be smart. I want to be able to say that it doesn't matter and that I'll support him and highlight whatever strengths he develops, but for some reason or another, I can't get myself to think it... at least when it comes to intelligence. Setting aside the debate as to what a reliable metric is for intelligence, I really hope that Sam is smart. And that makes me feel really bad.
I've been trying to figure out why it's so important to me, and the closest I've come is the fact that since as far back as I can remember, people told me that I was smart. So, I guess I want Sam to experience the same. The other possibility is that I'm more Asian than I think I am and that the Confucian values of intelligence and education runs strong through my veins.
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3 comments:
I think it's more important that he know how to handle a katana well.
i used to have the same thoughts about my future children being smart and the reality is i still do. at this point i hope that even more they will have wisdom more than intelligence. why do we care about this quality so much? maybe b/c it can be an indicator of success and as parents (and parents to be one day) we hope that success will limit the pain and suffering of life that our kids might have to experience. and even if we know this is not true, it is a comforting thought.
as long as he wins his middle school geography bee, he'll be all right...
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