We sat at the dinner table the other night arguing about which one of us is smartest. I don’t remember who started it, but one of us asked, “Who do you think the smartest person in our family is?”

To which we all replied, “I am.” Of course.

Then our 9 year-old daughter said, “Actually, I think Dad’s the smartest.”

“Whaaat?” I said. Traitor.

She had the grace to squirm in her seat. “Why’s Dad the smartest?” I asked.

“Because he’s a scientist and a teacher.”

“So scientists are automatically smarter than everyone else?” I said. Where do we get these ideas? I remember thinking the same thing when I was young.

“Well,” she squirmed some more. “He’s also a teacher,” she said.

“Mom’s a teacher, too,” said our 11 year-old son. My hero. “She teaches people how to WordPress.”

❤

Our daughter teased her older brother. “You need to learn the difference between a noun and a verb.”

I laughed and said, “I think you used that perfectly well, buddy.”

He shrugged and said, “I know how to verb.”

I think I’ve made my choice.