On the other hand, this is the first sign I've seen that Hanni is really splitting off from her peers, even within a MG-HG group. I guess I've felt fortunate, and maybe somewhat complacent, that she gets her intellectual ya-yas at home with me, and uses preschool to have gooey messy shrieky fun. But maybe not? How long till she starts to realize that she's different? How long till she starts trying to hide who she is? I think this may be the beginning of some of the issues that y'all talk about a lot here.
Anyway, just wanted to share with some folks who might be able to understand my complicated feelings about this.
Yup, BTDT (including the nursery full of professor-spawn, thank goodness for it!)
Is the person who said this to you someone you can have a chat to another time and say, "you know, I had really mixed feelings about what you said last time, because she's great but I worry about how she'll fit in as she grows up - should I already be concerned?" or some such, and get a useful answer? It may be that your worries are making you read too much into a remark.
Just to give you an optimistic data point, DS-now-8 has never yet seriously hidden and hasn't had any very serious problems with being shunned by other children either. (He had some issues with older children, 2 years above him and older, teasing him, but the school dealt with it firmly and well. He's always fitted in well with his own class, even though he's doing his own work some of the time.) It may be, of course, that this will fall apart later, but so far, I credit the excellent, friendly, caring school. He's also, like Hanni, quite happy to enjoy age-typical running and shrieking games some of the time, which really helps balance the other stuff! Do you have a school plan you're happy with, or is that still open or a worry?
