I'm certainly glad Barack Obama's mother was concerned with keeping him challenged, but it might be too political an answer.
This was an interesting article about Obama's mother and I pulled out a couple parts that fit with our discussion.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1729524-1,00.html
Ann was herself clearly gifted and highly motivated as was her father. She hung out with very smart people, too. It is not clear how much pressure she put on BO versus how much came from him. She also had her own interests and no doubt BO had to be on his own from time to time - and in a foreign culture. Their early pictures together reveal BO to be a very precocious kid. Its interesting to speculate between the lines of her life and the photos and comments from friends, both in the Press and what can be found from careful searching.
BO is certainly a Gladwellian Outlier as is Palin. Both possess enormous native intelligence and iron will, and both took advantage of unique opportunities at all steps in their lives. Both have formidable, successful spouses and a strong family life and supportive parents who pushed them and then did not stand in the way.
