The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree

A few days ago, I was visiting with my sister on the phone while Braxton and I unloaded groceries from the van. Somehow my sister and I were talking about books and she said her son was reading a book by Cynthia Rylant.

"Have you ever heard of her?" Bear asked.

"No," I answered. And then, as an after thought, I turned to BR and asked, "Braxton, do you know who Cynthia Rylant is?"

"She wrote Henry and Mudge." Braxton replied, quite confident. I relayed this information to my sister who said, "Really? Hmm..."

"She also wrote..." and Braxton went on to name a few more books she'd written.

Bear got online and looked her up, and sure enough, Cynthia Rylant wrote the Henry and Mudge books.

"Wow," I said. "My 11-year-old totally knows this author and the books she's written. That's kind of amazing. Where does he get that from?"

Later that same day, my sister and I were on the phone again. We are some of those people who don't need a reason to call, we just call. She was telling me about going to Amy Laughton's house to check on the dog.

"Hey," I interrupted. "I've been meaning to tell you. I was reading some research and one of the resources used in the paper was written by an Amy Laughton. Spelled the same way. What are the chances of that?"

My sister says, "That is kind of interesting. It's not a name you see everyday."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I thought it was an amazing thing."

"No," my sister corrected me. "The amazing thing is that you have an 11-year-old who remembers authors and books they've written . Yet his mother not only reads the research paper, she also reads the sources listed in the paper and remembers them. And you wonder where he gets it from."

Yeah....

So....

I guess Braxton comes by it honestly.

Poor kid.