Yesterday my wife told me that she has started playing audiobooks in the car for our daughter while Clara simultaneously holds the book and follows along, trying to determine when and where to turn the page.
Clara is only three years old and cannot read yet, but I thought that this sounded like a terrific step on the road to reading.
And it got me thinking:
The advantages that my daughter has over the childhood version of myself are astounding.
Clara attends preschool.
I did not.
Clara spends an extraordinary amount of time in museums, zoos, aquariums, libraries and the like.
I did not.
Clara lives in a house filled with books and is read to every day.
I was not.
Clara will presumably not be left home alone for long stretches of time, oftentimes into the wee hours of the morning, at the age of 8.
I was.
Clara will be assigned a reasonable bedtime throughout much of her childhood.
I was not.
The amount of television that Clara watches is limited, and the programs that she watches are specifically vetted by us.
This was not the case for me.
As a result of these advantages, is it unreasonable to expect that Clara will one day be considerably more intelligent and better prepared for adulthood than me?
And therefore, is it also unreasonable to expect that her level of success will far exceed my own?
In short, based upon the advantages that my daughter has over the childhood version of me, is it wrong of me to expect greatness from Clara?
And be at least a little annoyed if it is not achieved?
