The Perils of a Reading Child

On Monday, we went out to eat for dinner at a restaurant where I had to pay at the counter as we were leaving instead of at our table. Joy took Noah and our leftovers out to the car and left me with the more-than-slightly overstimulated Sam. Since I couldn't keep him from running all over the place, I picked him up and plopped him on the counter as I wrote out my check. Right next to the cash register was one of those dishes with the inscription "Need a Penny, Take a Penny; Have a Penny, Give a Penny." Sam looked at it, puzzled over it for a few moments, and then said

"Take a Penny! Can I have a penny?"

The woman working the register smiled and indulgently replied "Of course you can, hon."

Sam grabbed a penny and proudly carried it around the rest of the evening. I knew he had mastered the art of selective hearing, but as he begins to read, he's mastering the art of selective reading as well.