It was a running joke around here when I recited the sidebar to my friends. Most of my friends are in their 30s and have a higher education so it is interesting to see how the kiddos are developing. Most are gifted in level 1 or 2. One friend is the same age as me and her kids are clearly HG. My other friend (has her masters and was a gifted child herself) was 30 when pregnant with her first and her DD is probably level 1. She knows her colors, shapes, rote counts to 10 and is starting to learn her ABCs (she is 2). She also has some problems with verbal and was tested recently b/c she was not speaking in 2 word sentences and the words she did say were very muddled. I could only understand about 5 of her words. She was also slow in her gross and fine motor skills. So maybe she would have been more gifted if her mother was over 35. LOL I just don't know if I believe the 35+ stat, but I do believe that parents with higher education and are more set in their careers tend to have smarter kids.
As for your niece I understand what you are talking about. My husbands sister's daughter had a child very young and we just found out that the marriage is not working out so now she will be a single mother. I can not image that this environment benefits a child. But don't let your niece guilt you into anything b/c it sounds like you have your hands full!
