Most every 2nd Sunday, we host a meal of soup with cheese-'n-mayo sandwiches (on homemade wheat bread) for a father and his three young sons: B.P.D.-age 11; B.L.D.-age 9; R.O.D-age 6. They are rural boys who go to school in a small town; and pray, as we have been told, for the day of the cheese-'n-mayo sandwiches.
Here are three examples from this Gen Alpha trio that might give us hope for the future of thought and critical thinking.
Sunday - Jan 25, 2026So you see, we still have thinkers and observers being born into this incredible world.
BPD-11 and BLD-9 were admiring their towering creation of magnetic tiles with runways and loops for descending balls. BLD (the boy with hands on everything mechanical or that has a knob or button or lever or clasp or switch or ...) was immensely pleased with their joint mechanical genius. In self-praising their brilliance, he casually ended with: "A mechanical mind can fix anything — except a broken heart." Without further commentary, he immediately moved on with improving their creation.
[Could there be a better observation about the limits of science?]
ROD-6: "Mom says I talk like an adult."
BPD-11: "That's because since you were two or three you sat in Mom's salon and listened for hours to all the ladies talk."
[Until BPD's observation, we had wondered but never discerned this contributing reason why ROD-6 often has advanced vocabulary and expression.]
Sunday - Jan 11, 2026
ROD's question while helping with popping corn: "Do you know what the worst thing is if there were no cars?" (pause)
Me: (summary) "Well, I guess it might be harder to go places and carry heavy stuff. And the weather would matter. ..."
ROD-6: "No. It would be that the horses would poo and pee on the crosswalks and we'd have to always clean it up. With cars we don't have that. (slight pause, thinking) Except I guess cars have exhaust, so I guess that is like poo. And I guess if they have a gas or oil leak, that is like pee."
