Dear Ones,
I'm not sure if folks will be ready to talk about this one, but it struck me that many, many gifted kids are the offspring of gifted parents. I do know of some dear souls who grew up gifted and well - accomidated, but that doesn't seem to be the majority of experience. Who knows? Even if our childhoods had been perfectly adaquate, we as a group are very good at finding something to second-guess in almost any situation. Well, that's how it is for me anyway! ((humor alert!!))
So my question is, how has your experience 'growing up gifted' been useful in your current parenting challenge, and where did it cause problems, where do you fear that it will cause more problems in the future?
Mine:
One really odd-nice thing about my mom's family, is that there is a tradition of assuming that all kids can think and understand, even before they can talk. This really threw me for a loop when I entered school and saw that it was actually uncommon for children to be treated as if the thoughts in their heads were more than static. I think it's been a blessing in parenting because it was true that my son had thoughts right from the begining, and it was easy for me to trust my instincts. It's been a curse, bucause it allowed me to pretend that my son was 'average' until he was 7, when someone with more typical expectations would have spotted him at age 2, and I slightly fear it will cause problems in the future because I worry that everyone else is correct and I do treat him as if he were more able to think for himself that he is really ready for.
There are many more, but I'd love to hear from all of you!
Trinity
