What is it with boys? Everything is competition. Yesterday at supper, the oldest was sharing tidbits that he had discovered in a science trivia book. (“What element was named after Albert Einstein?”)

 

No. 4 piped up, “I learned science at school today.” No. 5 countered, “Me too!”

 

No. 3 talked over the kindergarteners by affirming that he, too, knew science.

 

Not to be outdone, No. 2 chimed in: “Yeah, well, pi is 3.14159.”

 

Huh? I didn’t realize that my fourth grader even knew what pi was, much less able to rattle it off to five decimal places! I gave him a high-five and told him that he rocked. Then I reminded everyone that we needed to actually eat during dinner, at some point, so the science knowledge competition finally tapered off as they scarfed down their shrimp stir-fry.

 

Many of their conversations at dinner and in the car tend to turn into one-upping each other, which often disintegrates into arguments. I was glad that last night’s banter was friendly competition – and about science, to boot!

 

P.S. The answer is Einsteinium.