Professor Xavier, my son

Several children had gift certificates from Christmas burning holes in their pockets so I agreed after extracting a folding party, to take them to the stores where they could shop unrestricted.

Loading the car, the kids began a game called "Mind reader." One child, in this case the oldest, is the predictor. He then tells each sibling what they are thinking.

"What am I thinking?" his sister asked, she was fumbling with her wallet and looking out the window.

"That this isn't the way to Barnes and Noble, it's the way to Borders and you don't have a gift certificate for there but you want to buy books."

"Score one." I thought.

"What am I thinking?" his second sister asked while playing with her split ends.

"You're wondering if we're going to have time to get hair cuts or if Mom is going to make us go to the cuttery instead of going to Best Buy. You want to get a new game for your DS with the 42 dollars you saved up."

Okay, he's paying attention.

The ten year old had been snickering and now began kicking his brother's seat. "What am I thinking?"

"How can I annoy my brother?"

"Ummmmmmnnnn." his grin told his brother, he was indeed, the winner of this game.

"My turn." I grinned. "What am I thinking?"

My son smiled and thought for a minute, "Why is it that you are so dialed in that you can guess what your siblings are thinking, but you can't remember to study extra for German or clean your room or practice trombone."

Before I thought he was just using social cues to craft his answers but now I'm thinking, my son has a gift.