Congradulations, HM - I'm proud of your 'our' kid too! How cool!
I love all of BaseballDad's points here. When my son was 3-6 there was no forum like this, and yes, although its for all gifted, it does have a 'farther out on the scale' slant. (I tried SENG's forums for a while, but I 'felt' more at home here, so here I am.) Still, I did the same thing you do, by reading the book 'Genius Denied' by the Davidsons. I saw what the other kids were doing, and thought 'Well, at least we don't have to worry about that, my son doesn't do what those kids do.' About a year later we had test results and I was filling out my YSP application. Apparently those IQ testers jobs are secure.
Cultivate the Joy!
Grinity
You absolutely should be proud, HM - what an exciting milestone! Thanks for telling us about it!
As for feeling out-of-place, if it's any consolation I'll add my voice to those who recognize that feeling. I regularly find myself reading about the accomplishments of other kids and thinking "Well that's clearly a different league from us." But then our DS4 will do something so unusual and striking, or we'll get feedback from someone very experienced with kids this age, and I'll think, "Hmm. Well maybe I'm not crazy after all." The thing is that each kid and each environment is so unique that it's incredibly difficult, for me at least, to know how one could even start to compare them. That's why it's probably very good advice not to try. What's exciting is to revel in the joy that these kids have in learning about new things, to cherish the glow you find in their eyes when something really clicks for them, and to give them the opportunity for those experiences as often as possible. Cultivate that joy, and every one of our kids will be well set up to take advantage of the plentiful gifts they have. There are other important aspects to parenting, of course, but this one seems pretty fundamental for kids like ours.
