Sometimes I wonder if it is even possible for my 10 yr old twice exceptional child grow into a happy, mentally healthy adult when my own anxiety level and sadness is so high that I sometimes snap at him over trivial things. He even told me that my anxiety causes him to have anxiety, just as my own mother's anxiety and illness have an effect on my anxiety. I guess we just pass this down through the generations and I feel powerless at the moment to do anything about it.
It is a daily struggle to stay positive and I am still trying to develop that sense of humor that my son and husband are able to use as a defense.
I thought my son's early years were really fun with the reading at 2 and all the funny things he said. I thought parenting a gifted child would be a piece of cake. What I had a hard time adjusting to was the fact that being very smart was somehow a problem in our public school, but as the superintendent of our public school told me "it is a good problem to have."
I love the fact that my son, as a homeschooler, has been able to keep his love of learning alive and that he is able to learn what he is interested in without worrying about what other people think. He feels good about what he knows. He feels good about his ability to discuss lots of subjects that his age mates have not yet learned, but he feels even better about his ability to see humor in things that most people, especially me, are too busy to see. When something unexpected happens, instead of getting annoyed or upset, he usually sees it as an opportunity to make a joke. His Dad is the same way. If I could learn to do what what my son does without even trying, I think I would be a better parent.
