Greg & Deb on the Web

Allie has a new game she likes to play. I'm calling it Quiz Bowl. The game is simple. I ask her questions and she answers them. For every right answer she gets a high five and a, you're so smart! For each wrong answer I tell her I'm going to pinch her head off and then do my best to make it happen (so far her head is still on her shoulders).

Most of the questions are softballs: What's your phone number? What number comes before nine?" "What's mommy's favorite treat? (she is still only three, after all). But Deb and I are still surprised by the breadth of Allie's knowledge. And the fact that she knows where her epiglottis is and what it does floors me.

I'm boasting, a little. But the truth is, I find Quiz Bowl a little depressing. Each correct answer is another indication that Allie's growing up. My days as Quiz Master are numbered. Allie will be starting school in a couple of years and then, before I know it, I'll no longer be able to help her with her homework because I'm too dumb (damn FOIL method).

But for now, for a short while, I am the Quiz Master. I ask the questions and hold all the answers within my powerful, Quiz Master's brain. I have the power to bestow high fives or to pinch heads off shoulders. I am the Alpha/Omega of all the knowledge in the universe. . . or at least I am this week. Next week, I'm back to being the guy that has difficulty making change at a bake sale.