What a smart 4-and-5/6-year-old!

I had never heard of Michelle Williams, but evidently she's some sort of celebrity. She was quoted in the "People" column of the newspaper this week.

She's speaking of her little daughter when she says, "When she was four, she would say 'I am four and half,' 'I am four and five-sixths,' 'four and seven-eighths,' because all the increments mattered."

Either Michelle has a math prodigy on her hands, or she's stretching the truth a mite. How many four-year-olds do you know who understand the concept of fractions? Most of them just hold up four fingers when you ask how old they are. The only understanding they have of time is that Christmas and birthdays are always a long way off. If this child is saying, "I'm four and seven-eighths," I'll wager it's because mom told her to say it, and the child has no clue what she's talking about.

"People." The Dallas Morning News; December 31, 2010; p. 3E.