But I also agree that giftedness should not be treated like it's a dirty little secret. My mom acted that way in her Christmas letter to friends to explain why DS8 was being homeschooled, and her friends all thought my DS8 was a troublemaker who got kicked out of school. SO not true! And that could cause real problems for DS8 and I socially if I were making the same mistake she made.
It's funny, because my mom does/did the opposite. She thinks it's completely appropriate to brag to high heaven about her grandson that "needs" to be homeschooled. We run into these people and I think they expect theorems and hypothesis should be spouting out of his ears!
Gotta love those grandmas.
We were on vacation recently and had dinner with different groups people we don't really see on a regular basis and don't really know our kids at all. We got pulled aside several times about the kid's behavior/vocab/precociousness. It was interesting. I think we still live in denial about 98% of the time.
I think there is a middle ground and you're right on about most people not really caring and are just making conversation. I'll walk down the road of talking GT if people keep asking. And a lot of the people who pursue it turn out to be dealing with their own GT issues or at least know something about the world of GT kids. I'm honest about it, but don't go into great detail unless led there.
