b) the person doesn't have a child his age, so there's no competition
This is definitely the case for me when I take ds & dd to ballet practice - not dance class with all the other moms, but when ds is in a production with the regular company dancers. (A lot of kids do 1 or 2 shows during the year and they are a great experience. )
What I am referring to is bringing dd 2.5 with me - the adult ballerinas and danseurs are just ga-ga over her, and they often ask questions about her development - 'is that normal?' basically is the underlying question - they say 'she seems so smart!!'
They are all very young, no kids, and they wait outside the practice studios and play with her, ask her questions, try to stump her on pronounciation of big words.
I have been getting some pretty specific questions lately - like 'how old are kids normally when they start to learn their letters or numbers?'.
Mostly dd just has a serious gift of gab, she really does sound like a 4 or 5 year old sometimes. But I dont think that is too scary to a lot of people. She also loves trying to imitate the dancers so that really delights them.
One of the younger girls keeps comparing her to her little cousin who is three who sounds nd, in the areas she has mentioned. I always say, thanks, and point out how my dd is really almost 3 also, and speech ability is pretty varied in how old kids are when they master it.
