Yes, it's normal to feel like this when you have an atypical (in this case, gifted) child. I recently saw an article for parents raising gifted children which mentioned needing to let go off the notion of a typical child. (Typical and atypical are not perfect terms, but I'm sure you understand them as I use them here.) Even mourning that, in a sense. Unless your circle contains parents who have similar children or who are very open minded to diversity among children, you are operating in a different world. I found that my childless (and highly educated) friends were the easiest to talk with about my ODS when he was very young, because they appreciated what he did, but didn't have parenting norms of their own.
As your child grows, and your own senses sharpen re: giftedness, you will, with any luck, begin to discover parents who are on similar, if perhaps not identical, parenting journeys. Many will be online, but we found some IRL, too. We were fortunate to have ODS in a Montessori school which happened to have several children who must have been somewhere along the gifted spectrum (parents happened to also be very bright, so we got along well with them). The parents of these children were then much easier to speak with about parenting. We could relate to intensity, cycles of rapid passion for something (dinosaurs, trains, etc.) that last for a few weeks/months and then was quickly discarded as the child moved onto the next thing. What I'm saying is that you may also find your parenting "tribe" members if you look carefully for them.
In our case, DS has become a lot easier as he grows (he's 8). He is more able to do things for/by himself, can (often) be reasoned with and has a broader range of interests to keep him busy. Even then, we are outliers as a family. He's not at the public school despite it being a top school in the rankings, because they don't have the flexibility to accommodate his educational needs. So we lose that community. We still have to watch how we talk about him if we don't want to offend people or have them perceive him as weird. (I'm not talking about people who get it.) I am pretty good at code speak. :-) People who have gifted kids pick up on what I'm saying (just this week, someone said "that's a wonderful way to say you have a really bright kid!"). Others don't, which is my goal. It's a weird way to live.
I go to the parent sessions at the university that hosts classes for gifted children (weekend ones that my son likes). Not because I learn much I have not found already, but because it is refreshing to be able to speak plainly and openly. And I get to help other parents by sharing what we've experienced.
