Freak of Nature, or Genius?

Maddie just had her physical to enter into Kindergarten and had three shots in her legs. Poor girl! Anyway, the doc  asked some questions to see if Maddie’s ready for school. She asked Maddie where she lived, who she lived with, how often she sees dad, what her phone # is, etc. When the doc asked, “If the teacher put the boys in one line and the girls in the other, to which line would you go?”
Maddie answered, “What for?”
Doc: “Well, would you go in the girl’s line or the boy’s line?”
Maddie: “What for?”
Doc: “Are you a boy or a girl?”
Maddie: “(Laughs) I’m a girl, of course.”

The doctor asked Maddie to tell her about a ball. To that, Maddie responded, “Well, if you let the air out, it’ll be flat.”
Doctor: “I’ve never heard that from a 5 year old before.”

Doc: “Describe a banana”
Maddie: “It looks like the moon”
Doc: “What do you do with a banana?”
Maddie: “(laughed) Well, you peel it, then eat it, then throw the peel away.”

When doc asked her to draw a picture of a girl, Maddie drew her in so much detail as not to forget to add shoelaces to the shoes. Doc said she’d never seen that before in 20+ years of practicing. The picture is in Maddie’s medical file.

Either Erik and I have a brilliant child, or she’s going to be so anal in detail yet abandon the obvious. I think most kids would describe a ball as a round plaything. They’d describe a banana as a yellow fruit. Maddie didn’t say anything about the obvious features of either object – it could be a hindrance… or a foreshadowing of good things to come. I guess I just need to let her develop as naturally as possible amidst these unorthodox circumstances in which she lives, and quit obsessing about what I can do to make her life better. I obviously can’t provide everything she needs – I’m not superwoman – so I need to be encouraged to chill out and stop dwelling on what I can’t change or provide for her. She just needs lots of love and assurance that comes from the heart and soul…  She’s amazing!