The prodigy

I guess it is normal for me to observe my daughter and look for some kind of special talent that would make her extraordinary in some way. Just something that would get her into Princeton by, oh, age 14.

Niranjana does seem rather smart. She memorizes books by listening to us. At first, I thought that was something. Then I noticed Leif and Cate had the same abilities. Yes, all three are quite sharp, but I don't think they're Stanford material yet.

I've been more than pleased with Niranjana's athletic prowess. She runs really fast, she kicks the soccer ball amazingly well, and she seems to hit and throw a baseball at an ability beyond her age. I'll keep an eye on that.

Last night as I was driving home, Melissa called me. She was excited because Niranjana was playing with a little toy guitar at Kindercare. She thought I should get my guitar out of the attic and see if Niranjana likes it. Of course she would, I figured. It's big, shiny, expensive and has never been handled by a 3-year-old. I haven't strummed the guitar in a couple of years, so we got it out. Niranjana took to it quickly, strumming the strings, pounding on the outside and generally having fun.

Excitedly, Melissa wondered if a little guitar would be a great birthday gift! Perhaps we are opening some opportunity for Niranjana to exhibit a god-given gift of music! I could see it in her eyes: prodigy!

I said that perhaps we should wait at least five minutes before calling private music tutors to set up years of lessons.

Sure enough, Niranjana quickly became more interested in jumping up and down on my guitar case than playing the instrument.

That application to Juilliard will have to wait for another day.