Geographic smartness (total brag)
Feb 28, 2007 Parenting
I’m not sure what this is, what neurons she’s got firing with this.
We’ve been picking Brett up from work some (one car family — usually he rides his bike but not in ice and snow) and we go around to the back of his building to get him. His building looks like a generic suburban office building — three or four floors, smoked windows, an entryway with desperate cubicle jockeys sucking on cigarettes. We’ve circled the building tightly in the past, coming around close around the front before parking in the back but we approach it from the back way.
So a couple of days ago we’re off to visit a friend and we pass his building from the very busy (and somewhat distant) street that runs in front. Madison says, “Hey, there’s daddy’s work! That’s where daddy is!”
Now how did she know that? The building looks totally different from far away and from the front.
When we first moved to our neighborhood she was just 18 months old, mind you, but she quickly figured out where the library was. If we took one of the back ways instead of the other, she’d cry when we turned down the street because it meant not passing the purple house she adores. But weirdly, the first time we drove past the front of the library she said, “Yibaye!” (Library in toddler Madison-speak.) Again, how does she recognize buildings from other directions?
Like I’ve said, she can spot cars, too and has since last summer. She’ll point to an Elantra and say it’s our car. She’ll point to a Dodge Caravan and say it’s Aunt Erica’s. It’s not the color — it’s the shape. And what’s weirdest about it is that she can do it in different directions. She recognizes them from the front and back and side.
Here’s another thing I thought was pretty smart for her age. On our way to that playdate (the one where we passed Brett’s office building) she got worried that P’s daddy would be there. P’s daddy is a delight but the big kids like to play tickle monster with him so Madison finds him scary (even though he never ever ever plays tickle monster with kids who don’t want to play tickled
“I hope P’s Daddy isn’t there,” she said as we turned into their long, long, long gravel drive. (They live in the country.) Then she brightened. “I don’t think he will be there because my daddy isn’t home so probably he won’t be home either.”
(Sadly she was wrong because P’s Daddy is on a sabbatical and she got hysterical when he came up the stairs because the big kids began to scream with fake terror. But she got over it because he really is a nice guy.)
That’s my baby book smart Madison entry. I’m going to hound Paige (when she gets internet again) to tell me what kind of smartness she’s displaying when she figures out cars and buildings. Maybe it means she’ll be good at math!
February 28th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
Sounds like she’s really got a predisposition for pattern recognition and spatial stuff. I bet she will be smart at math. Pretty cool!
March 1st, 2007 at 5:35 am
Sounds like she’s got the neurons for spatial orientation running at top speed  the same thing that lets you mentally spin shapes around or figure out which piece fits in the circle on an IQ test. Good for math, hand crafts, and fitting an apartment’s worth of stuff into the smallest possible moving van.
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:58 am
I’ve got to ask — what does “neurons firing” mean to all of you?
I know (it’s what I do, measure neurons firing). But, it’s interesting to see how much the idea has penetrated the popular lit — a title in Dawn’s blog, no less.
bj
March 2nd, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Buddy Boy has done similar things. He recognized the library and knew the way there, and knew where to turn on the street leading to Busters’ high school when he was two. He has been amazing me with things like this since he started talking (maybe he noticed things before he could talk?) He also knows exactly when I go over the speed limit on the way to school. It drives me crazy that the minute I go over 30 mph in a 25 mph zone he says “mom - slow down here, remember?” Before he could count that high he knew the difference in speed in the car. Have you heard of href=”http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm”>multiple intelligences? I think it is the spatial orientation and pattern recognition. Maybe pre-verbal minds are better than older ones in those areas… a survival tool for young ones highly dependent on mobile caretakers?
March 6th, 2007 at 3:55 am
My kid had similar extraordinary spatial abilities at that age.
This year she is topping out the math in her mixed-age classroom, as a first grader who is newest to the material.
My wife’s theory? No one is ever, ever going to leave her anywhere again where she feels lost. That is a reference to her history before adoption, and I don’t think it applies to Madison. However, my child is the queen of spatial orientation and this talent came from somewhere.