Me: What’s 7999999999 plus 1?
My son: That’s too big Daddy, I can’t add those!!
Me: Okay, let’s try a simpler problem. What’s 9 + 1?
Son: 10
Me: 99 + 1?
Son: 100
Me: 999 + 1?
Son: 1000
Me: 9999 + 1?
Son: I don’t know how to say the next number. Oh wait! TEN thousand (proudly).
Me: 99,999 + 1?
Son: 100, 000
Me: 999,999 + 1?
Son: How do you say 1000 thousands?
Me: 1 million
Son (laughs): Okay the last one is 1 million then.
Me (continuing): What’s 9,999,999 plus one?
Son: 10 million.
Me: What’s 99,999,999 + 1?
Son: 100 hundred million.
Me: 999,999,999 plus one?
Son: How do you say 1000 millions?
Me: One billion.
Son: That’s the answer then, 1 billion.
Me: Okay, now try the first problem. What’s 7,999,999,999 plus one?
Son (no hesitation): 8 billion.
Son: What’s 1000 billion?
Me: One trillion.
Son: What’s 1000 trillions?
Me: One quadrillion.
Son (giggles): And then?
Me: Quintillion
Son: What’s next!
Me: Sextillions, then Septillions, then Octillions, then Nonatillions, then probably Decitillions.
Son: What’s next?
Me: Probably Endekatillions and Dodekatillions, but that’s the limit of my Greek.
Me: What if we played our adding game forever?
Son: Infinity! But we’d have to play in Heaven because even if we played until the end of our lives, we still wouldn’t reach infinity.
(Leads to a long discussion on whether heaven exists and where we go when we die.)