Does Not Compute

There is one thing that Xavier and I have in common. Both of us hate math. We both prefer any other subject on the face of the earth. While I hate math because, frankly, I suck at it, Xavier is really good at math. He just hates it.

Or so I thought.

I'm still trying to determine what happened to my boy after an incident the other night. Because his hatred for math was tangible, something you could almost reach out and touch. But he flipped my world upside down when the other night, as he was heading up to bed, he asked if he could have the lights on for an extra half hour so he could do math.

Wait, what???

No, he didn't have homework that was due. No, he wasn't trying to get extra time. I normally give him an extra 30 minutes where he can read before lights out. He had options. And I just cannot fathom using math as an excuse to stay up late. Before, I would have said Xavier would rather be tucked into bed with nothing than to solve math problems for a few extra minutes.

I sat there, mouth open, totally taken aback, while he waited patiently for my answer. Dumbly I nodded agreement, and he raced to get his workbook, then up the stairs. I sat there, staring blankly into space for five minutes, wondering what the hell just happened.

Where is my kid? Who took him and what did they do to him? Was I dealing with some genetic clone cyborg, who looked just like my oldest but with a love of math? Did I like this new version or not? Wasn't it beyond the realm of weird to have a child who asked, ASKED, if he could do math.... and worst of all, for FUN? What is this crazy world coming to? What could he have possibly eaten that would screw up his gene code so much as to create this absurdity? Was it the new protein powder J bought to help his calorie intake? Was it the soy chocolate milk the boys love so dearly? Would Ashe and Soren start mutating too and ask if they could play Algebra? What is going on?????

J came up the stairs a little while later and said I looked pale. After trying to speak a few times I finally croaked out "Your son.... math....upstairs....fun?" At that moment, Xavier tromped down the stairs, workbook in hand. He shrugged his shoulders and said "I think I'm done. It was all fractions. I HATE fractions." He put his workbook away, waved goodnight to us, and wandered back upstairs.

And all was right again with the world.