Sally's World

My son Jordan is 15 and a bit of a brain box, I'd like to be able to say he gets it from me, but it would just be a big fat lie!!!

He's been able to do 500 piece puzzles form the age of 4 and has been able to annihilate the most ardent chess player since he was about six!

When he was 5 and got his first connex construction set, I proudly made a cube, turned to show him and he humoured my creation while showing me the racing car, complete with a working steering wheel he'd built in the same amount of time.

He's taken most of his exams early, is doing 5 A levels, and is going to be an architect...I have no doubt he will do it, he seems to be able to swan through his school terms and exams with relative ease.

As Jordan's intelligence is common knowledge, one of his uncles bought him a Mensa challenge calendar for Christmas.

Great idea, it has a difficult mental challenge each day to 'give your Brain a morning work out' and they range in difficulty from 1 to 5. On the difficulty 1 and 2 days I breathe a sigh of relief, because after that, they really are hard.

Jordan loves them and always, tests me on them after he's completed them without too much trouble.

And I have to say, I hate feeling stupid compared to my own child. Oh, he left me way behind in his maths class work and stuff years ago but on something like this, I want to feel like I am keeping up! I consider myself an intelligent woman (most of the time), so I refuse to back down.

I have now officially lost the plot...when did I realise this, at five o'clock this morning, when I got up extra early (and on a Sunday too!), so I could sneak a peak at today's Mensa challenge and figure out the answer before Jordan was awake!

Ha! This'll show him...now when he gets up to do it, he'll test me and I'll be able to give the answer really quickly!!!

competetive...who me???