It was pouring rain as we neared home after traversing the state today. John (age 5) had been a trooper for the 3-hour round-trip, being cheerful, talkative, and (mostly) keeping his hands away from his little sister (who slept most of the trip).
His small voice came from the seat directly behind me, draped with a dreamy, reflective quality. Nothing to warn me of his killer instincts. "Mom, how many raindrops do you think are falling?"
"Umm, I really don't know, John. Do you mean ever, or right now?"
"Right now, and you have to make a guess."
"Oh, okay. Umm, one-billion."
"Wrong!" All traces of dreaminess were gone from his voice, replaced with a mischievious, grinning quality. "It's one-billion-nine. Hello?!"
I was startled to hear such obnoxious, older humor tone in the "Hello?! Are you an idiot?" of a five-year-old. But he was giggling so fiercely at his own joke that I couldn't help but give him instantly.
We spent the rest of the drive discussing numbers. "What is bigger, one-billion-one or one-billion-two? Is anything bigger than one-billion-nine? Well, then what is bigger than one-trillion? How do I count to one-trillion?" At least it kept me awake on a long drive. If only we could all maintain such enthusiasm to learn everything.
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