The Math Book I Don't Remember Giving

Two years ago, my daughter Joy came home for Christmas. During the reunion, she casually reminded me of a Christmas gift I gave her years ago: a math book.

I was embarrassed. I honestly didn't remember it, but Joy is honest, so I trusted her memory more than mine.

Why did I give her a math book? Joy is a lovely daughter, but she never had many extracurricular activities. She spent a lot of her free time playing video games — not the stereotypical ballet or piano that many families encourage.

Meanwhile, our attention was often on her brother Benjamin, who has autism. That left Joy plenty of time for her online friends, and perhaps out of frustration (or hope), I bought her a math book.

She never rebelled, but I'm not sure what happened to the book or her math skills. She didn't pursue math or computer science in college — instead, she is now on her path to becoming a doctor.

In our household, medicine runs in the family in different ways: my wife is a nurse practitioner, which is a "half-doctor", my daughter is a "future doctor", and I'm a "fake doctor" with a doctoral degree in computer science. Life has a funny way of working out.

What are the moral lessons of the story? Just don't give math book as a gift, especially Christmas gift. Let children be children. They will figure out their own ways of life.