Know-it-all

According to him, my 9 year old knows everything. He is a self proclaimed expert on any subject at any time. Tallest building in the world? Easy, got it. Rules for obscure sport? Can give you the history and player stats as well. Weight of Jupiter every 32nd year when it aligns with Neptune? Off the top of his head answer.We joke with him about how his giant brain possibly fits in his head. He is nothing if not confident.

I remember being like that. I remember arguing with my second grade teacher about a hot air balloon that I was sure touched the sun. 

I remember going to medical school and having fellow students feel sure that they could diagnose and treat a patient better than a practicing physician.

I remember having my first child and 

(after past the shock of new motherhood) feeling sure I had it all figured out. I would never feed my kids McDonald's or stand for them

throwing that fit or expose them to any germs. 

The thing is, there is something to be said for confidence. Feeling sure of yourself allows for success. Life is full of knock downs and negativity so it's necessary to have  a self esteem that can handle it. 

But I realize that just when I think I know everything, everything changes. What I knew when I was a child seems silly. What I knew in my 20s seems naive. What I know now will be eclipsed as I live life.

The conflict arises when self awarded expertise takes importance over learning and opening up to new ideas and experiences. 

Pick any subject of passion-parenting, politics, (for me medicine)--and you will find people with tunnel vision. It's the "my way or the highway" thinking. " Look at the right way to do things and stop doing it so wrong." 

People forget to stop defending and start listening. We all have different strengths, different God given gifts. We aren't supposed to be experts or get it right all the time-we are meant to walk with God. Walk-implying moving forward, changing, not sitting in our same comfortable place. That walk necessitates learning-sometimes making mistakes, sometimes not knowing the answer, sometimes admitting we are wrong. 

So we keep  working with our children-walking the fine line between fostering their confidence and making them life long learners, open minded, big thinkers, and trying to lead by example. 

We continue on our walk and maybe we can learn as much from our 9 year old as we want him to learn from us.