Hi!
I made the original "bragging about your kid" comment. Wow what a way to start your first post. I think perhaps the way I used the term "bragging" was taken out of context. Perhaps I should have just said "talking about your kid." I rarely ever even bring up the subject of DD's development with friends, especially ones with children because I know it will be perceived as "bragging." However, people ask "so what is she doing now." I guess it is just a conversation starter. At 1 she could recite the alphabet. I was not going to lie. So I answered honestly. She knows the alphabet she is sight reading a little. Not bragging, just being honest. The next time I saw the person with a sarcastic tone she says so is she done with War and Peace yet? So an honest answer to a question asked of me about my child was taken as bragging because of what my child was doing. I guess I have just had some bad experiences. Hopefully those of others have been better.
I also think that DD deserves to hear that I am proud of her abilities and achievements, not that I ignore them or pretend that they do not exist. Or worse, hide them to fit in with others. She is smart and even at 4 she recognizes that how she learns is somewhat different than her peers. I think that was evident when she tried having a conversation with a friend's daughter about why dinosaurs went extinct and was met with a blank stare. My biggest fear is that as a teenager DD will decide that it is better to mask her talents to fit in than it is to be a girl that loves and is very good at math and science. I want DD to know that as a parent I am proud of her in every way and that being smart is a good thing, not something to be ashamed of or hide from.
I do not go around reciting my DDs IQ score because yes I believe that would be an invasion of her privacy and a pointless exercise. I do not have a blog (although I have no problem with it). In fact, I resisted the invitation to have a news article written about DD as one of the youngest members of MENSA in our area because I felt that would be an invasion of her privacy and I saw no benefit to doing so. The sole reason we signed her up for MENSA was so we could hopefully meet some other families with gifted kids. Our hope was to find some play peers for DD as she had encountered some difficulty in connecting with same age peers.
And, for the record, the only thing that I think is lacking in my own life right now is more time. I am happily married, work full time at a job I love, am a mother to two kids, have a network of friends, and some hobbies like photography that regrettably I do not have the time to properly indulge at the moment.
