Debate

"They don't offer debate class for four-year-olds," the pediatrician told Isaac today, "but if they did, you would be a good candidate. You speak very well."

Primarily he meant that Isaac is articulate, but I think he also noticed that Isaac presents his positions with careful consideration in order to avoid ceding any power to his opponents.

Here are three examples from today's doctor's appointment:

(1) Before the nurse checked Isaac's vision, she reviewed with him the three shapes on the eye chart: an apple, an umbrella, and a house. When she was giving him the exam, however, Isaac continually identified the umbrella as a mushroom, over our protests. At one point he even said, when asked about the apple, "It looks like an orange, but I think it's supposed to be an apple."

(2) When the doctor asked Isaac if he would like to be examined on Craig's lap or on the exam table, Isaac replied with slow deliberation, "Well, I haven't decided ... "

(3) We had already decided to have Isaac receive his seasonal flu vaccine in the form of nasal spray, but to help him put in perspective the two injected vaccines he was going to get, I asked him, "Would you like to have two shots or three shots?"

He said, "I would like to not have three shots."

This last exchange, where I failed to outmaneuver Isaac, is probably what inspired the doctor to make his remark about the debate team. I had suspected I couldn't trick Isaac into saying he wanted two shots, but I hadn't expected such a nuanced response on his part -- he deftly avoided incriminating himself by answering my question, yet he clearly expressed his desire for fewer shots.

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If the doctor had carried on a longer conversation with Isaac, he would have realized that Isaac speaks with a level of formality, precision, deliberation, and pedantry that might also bode well for a career in debate.