My son is a profound thinker
Jason Crouch
On the eve of Father's Day weekend, I thought it would be appropriate to share some experiences that I've had with my son lately.
I have been cycling with my nine year old son Brandon pretty much every evening lately. We go for a ride that is slightly over 5 miles, which still amazes me considering that he just learned to ride about a month and a half ago. We both have more energy, and we often follow this with some swimming at our community pool.
During our time together, sometimes he gets quiet and I'll ask him what he's thinking about. The answers are typically surprising.
The other night, I asked him how he was feeling when we were about halfway done with our ride, and he said simply, "I feel like Lance Armstrong." Good to hear!
Other times, he says, "Not much" or "I enjoy spending time with you, dad."
However, my favorite exchange went like this (and I can assure you that this is pretty much verbatim):
ME: You seem quiet, Brandon. What are you thinking about?
BRANDON: The cosmic web of dark matter that holds the universe and the galaxies. Also, I was thinking about black holes and supermassive black holes. When the core of a massive star gets too dense, it collapses on itself, forming a black hole. When clouds condense in galaxies, or sometimes when galaxies are formed, supermassive black holes are created.
ME: Wow. I didn't know that. Brandon, you are a smart kid!
I couldn't really think of anything else to say, perhaps because I felt somewhat inadequate in my knowledge of astronomy at that moment. I can, however, assert that homeschooling appears to be paying dividends now.
Last night, he answered the same question by stating that he was thinking about "the reaches of the universe".
Today, he wanted to discuss a dream that he had last night. It wasn't anything particularly unusual, but he had a great analysis of it. He dreamt that he was in a neighborhood, and that he saw our old house:
BRANDON: Well, actually, it looked like our old house at first, then it was just a garage. I opened the door and went in, then downstairs. It was just more garage, but when I came back up, it was a THREE STORY MANSION! There were some kids playing inside, and some parents there. (pause) I think God was trying to tell me that things are not always as they appear on the outside.
No, son, they really aren't.
I am thankful that God has blessed me with three perceptive and creative kids. It makes life much more interesting, in my opinion. Of course, it also keeps me on my toes.
