Smart, Smart, Smart

When I was pregnant with Hunter, someone asked me whether I would rather my unborn daughter would grow up to be pretty or smart.  When I said, “Pretty,” all present were horrified.  (Or at very least, shocked that I would say such a thing.)  My argument at the time dealt primarily with the premise that smart people weren’t necessarily happy, and, that pretty people did tend to have an easier time of things.  I’m not sure that I’m wrong.

 

At Hunter’s baby shower, our friend Denise gave us a card in which she wrote, “Hopefully your daughter will be pretty and smart,” and we all had a good laugh.  But, I’m still not sure that I’m wrong.

 

Now, whenever Hunter does something particularly thick, like being unable to locate the bright orange Crocs that are sitting on the floor right behind her, Michael or I will tell her, “Aw, you’re pretty.”

 

The only reason I bring this up, is that I had a very interesting conversation with my new OBGYN this morning.  I’m sixteen weeks and three days pregnant, my blood pressure is “excellent”, the sea monkey’s little heart is beating away, and I’ve gained another eight pounds.  I’ve also, at his direction, been taking fish oil supplements.  The purpose of these fish oil supplements is to provide omega-three fatty acids to the sea monkey, because “studies have shown” doing so could increase the baby’s I.Q. by an average of nine points.

 

Today he told me about a book by someone called Dr. Pearlmutter about raising a smarter child by kindergarten.  Apparently, Dr. Pearlmutter claims that a child’s I.Q. can be raised by up to 30 points by making sure that the child’s diet is supplemented by omega-threes.  I haven’t read the book, but it does sound interesting.

 

Dr. Vasquez is a very meditative man.  Every word he says seems measured and well considered, and, he more or less revealed to me today that he thought the world needed more smart people, because only smart people were going to solve the problems looming in the future of mankind.

 

Being the egalitarian public school teacher that I am, I wasn’t sure that I could agree.  Intelligence is one thing, but, how many “smart” students have I had that did not realize their potential because they lacked the necessary work ethic?  Or how many smart people ignore the lure of self-interest (i.e. money) and use their impressive I.Q.s for the betterment of society?

 

It seems to me that I.Q. isn’t the determining factor.  It just speaks to a person’s potential, and, sometimes, potential is the dirtiest word in the English language.  So many people, so many parents, are satisfied with just being “smart” or having “smart” children.  But unless that natural intelligence is augmented with other, arguably more important, things, being smart just doesn’t cut it.

 

An agent of  the sort of change that Dr. Vasquez spoke of should, at very least, be disciplined, driven, well-informed, thoughtful, and ethical. 

 

I hope both of my children will grow up to be all of these things.  Mostly, I hope that they will be well-adjusted.  Not just pretty.  Not just smart.

 

If only teaching my children these things was as easy as taking a fish oil supplement…