Are you raising an evil genius?

My daughter Hattie loves the outdoors, in fact if it was up to her she’d spend every waking moment outside (good thing we live in Honolulu).  This became even more apparent last year after she began to unlock the deadbolt of our front door to make a mad dash to the courtyard of our apartment building.  So like any responsible parent we added an extra lock at the top of the door about 6-and-half-feet high; clearly out of her reach..or so we thought.

Yesterday, as we were eating lunch, we watched Hattie’s insistence on going outside shift from words to actions.  At first she attempted her escape with the help of a small step stool from the bathroom.

But she came up short by about 3 feet.

Then she grabbed her empty backpack.

Still need about another 2 feet 11 inches to cover.

Of course, like all good parents, Lisa and I continued to eat lunch while mocking Hattie’s attempts with our smirks and eye rolls.  Not to be deterred, and somehow without us noticing (you know that kind of moment when you’ve somehow blocked out what your kid is doing, like eating a stick of butter while you’re making cookies), Hattie climbed onto the nearby table and with a final stretch managed to unlock and open the door.

So what do you do next as a parent, educator, and all-around encourager-of-resourcefulness?

We clapped!

We gave Hattie the applause she deserved for accomplishing more than we thought was possible.

Watching Hattie makes me think, “Do I really know what she’s capable of doing?”  If you’re a parent you should be asking the same question (about your own kid), and if you’re a teacher you should be asking this question about your students.

The correct answer is: Much more than you think they are capable of doing!

Here’s two examples of other amazing kids:

or check out this story from CBS:

http://www.cbs.com/shows/60_minutes/video/RiQKqFPFfbNm2X9t2___Z_96zFT2AKno/boy-wonder-jack-andraka/