Hi TwinkleToes: I am just nodding reading your post; you and I are a bit alike I think. Some of it is the introverted parent (who needs to recharge alone) parenting a highly extroverted child or two (who recharge by interacting with other people) Of course the problem is that the kids are recharging at the same time they are draining you! I also imagine that the giftedness magnifies all this.
You are so right to be thinking about bringing other people/children into the mix. Even story time at the library is a start (and while the librarian is reading, there are all those nice, quiet grown up books lining the walls for you). Would an activity like this suit her?
Will she go to Kindergarten in the fall? Even if it is not a great academic fit, the social piece could be priceless.
My other challenge when my kids were this age was I wanted to be friends with other parents, but I didn't really have the "social energy" to initiate the friendships. Everything got much easier once I had a child in school and they started to find their friends, which naturally led to friendships with their parents for me.
In the meantime hang in there and be sure to get as much sleep as you can. My downfall was always trying to "recharge" after the kids went to bed...by staying up late. It didn't work & the next day I'd be exhausted.
Last edited by herenow; 05/10/11 07:46 AM.
