You mean those moments of epiphany that on the one hand hit you like a lightning bolt and fill you with terror and a sense of alienation from everyone else you know.... and on the other hand, simultaneously grant me a sense of triumphant validation ("SEE?? I'm
not 'that mom' am I?? SEE??")...
those moments, you mean?
My biggest early ones, in retrospect, were:
daycare when my then-2-yo decided that she "needed" to learn some Spanish phrases since the daycare workers didn't seem to know enough to comfort a frightened younger toddler (~13mo?) from a Spanish-only home... this was also about the time that it became apparent that she not only already knew phonemes past kindergarten-1st, but also that she was able to do simple algebra in her head and had a wicked sense of humor...
DD desperately wanted a copy of Gray's Anatomy. For her 3rd birthday.
Colleagues remarked to me that they "forgot" that DD wasn't another adult when they'd be working in the lab and talking with her, seated at my desk nearby. These were technicians, grad students, and PhD scientists in pharmacology, chemistry, and molecular biology. DD was ~3-6yo.
kindergarten orientation day in our SD-- while I tried to talk to an experienced classroom teacher about differentiation and their ability to manage a chronic medical condition in the classroom, my DD (then just 4) sat quietly in the midst of UTTER chaos (seriously-- several dozen boys and girls 4-7yo screaming and running around the room playing tag/chase/whatever it was) reading what was obviously at least 3rd-7th grade level material. I can still see her sitting there on that chair, her legs high above the floor, swinging gently, in the middle of a Harry Potter book without a care in the world. Now, that wasn't an epiphany to me-- but it
clearly was to the teacher, who instantaneously went from telling me in reassuring tones about "in-class differentiation" for gifted kids (with a tone of "Oh, we have MANY very advanced students, after all, living as we do in a university town, etc. etc.) to wide eyes and hushed, horrified whispers about absolutely NOT putting her into a district kindergarten classroom if I had any possible alternative because there was NOTHING that they would be able to do with/for her.
A few more recent:
a) DD, being dumbfounded/appalled at how 'obtuse' some freshman college students were being at a lecture on some ecology topic. This was when she was 10.
b) Friends who have remarked on how "overwhelming and fast" the pace of particular honors courses have been for their kids... these are GT kids (no, they really are) and they are also +4-6 years DD's senior... and I'm biting my tongue and not saying anything, but thinking "Wow. DD is really frustrated with the slow pace and the lack of detail."
