Punkin is amazing. If you haven’t heard me sing her praises, you can here. And here.
I’m fairly certain she’s smarter than I, given that she’s read C.S. Lewis and Tolkien, and I’ve only seen the movies. That being said, I’m realizing more and more that she isn’t just smart. She’s a full-on nerd.
This isn’t surprising, since she’s the Nerd’s daughter. But it all came to a head over Christmas. For years, Punkin has “collected” rocks. Meaning she grabs stones from the ground wherever we are and saves them in a box in her room. I thought it was just a phase, but after three years, I’m starting to think that just maybe she’s into…
Geology.
Seriously? I’m a science geek. Love me some science. But geology? Even scientists know that’s the lame science. The nerd science. If you study cells, you watch them grow and change and live. If you study rocks, you’d have to wait around for several millenia before you saw anything significant happen. No disrespect to geologists. You guys are super smart. It’s just not my cup of tea.
For Christmas, she got this:
It’s a giant poster of the naturally occurring minerals in the earth. Upon opening it, she emphatically exclaimed, “ROCKS AND MINERALS!!!!” Kind of like she had just received an iPod, except it doesn’t do anything. Ever.
(Please ignore the poor photo quality, now and always. I married the Nerd for his photography skills, but he’s never around when I need him to take random and pointless photos for this waste of time blog.)
Then she got an “excavation kit.” A big block of solidified sand-like matter with various stones embedded inside. Complete with safety goggles, brush, and chisel, it was the first thing she wanted to use after Christmas day. She sat at the table for two hours digging at rocks.
Then came the conversations. “Mommy, do you know what this is? It’s AMETHYST. Like, real amethyst!” “What other stones do you think I’ll find? Do you think we’ll be able to identify them all?”
“What’s your favorite mineral?”
Um, gee, I’m not sure. I hadn’t really thought about that because NO ONE THINKS ABOUT THAT.
All kidding aside, I love this kid so much she could make my heart explode. Because she rocks her inner nerd. Because she isn’t afraid to be who she is. And because she’s giving nerds everywhere a seriously awesome reputation. Not that I’m biased.