Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy lonely and possibly depressed preschooler

I can only speak from personal experiences. (Disclaimer: If you think about getting help, then trust that instinct and do it as soon as possible.) My family never really fits in although we look normal; we have gifted issues individually, as a couple, parent to child and as a family. That said, we use the truth (You have to be honest when you are not fitting in.) and logic to guide us through it; also, we share our experiences and do not try to hide it, say, if there is a meltdown from being so sensitive and intense. When you think and act differently than the norm, you have to be comfortable with yourself. You have to find the adages that apply to you. Our extreme mental curiousity is what drives us and helps to make it okay. We are living in a multiverse, maybe, so it is an incredible place to be for a gifted person. Focus on the interests that you have naturally and see if that brings happiness, peace and joy. Observe all of the different human behaviors. Don't let anyone intentionally hurt you. Stand up for yourself. Make changes until you find the group, the school, the work, etc., that suits you. The great thing about being smart is that you can figure it out. Explaining to others may not work. They may not understand, feel jealous, take it the wrong way, twist your words, etc. If you need for them to understand giftedness, refer them to the web where there is endless info. in English from the USA, the UK and Australia to start. Good Luck!

Well to be fair one of mine wakes at 6 when he goes to bed at 7 - but if I put him to bed at 8 he wakes up at 5 and so on. The tireder he is allowed to get the worse he sleeps and the earlier he wakes and the more he cries and can't manage other kids and their games. The other would actually prefer a 9 pm bed time and to sleep late but it works better to put him to bed at 7 and let him read while he settles as he is a slow to settle person. If you let him stay up he takes longer to settle.

My older did nap occasionall past 4 but that is unusual her - and he still went to he'd early (he is pretty high energy) but the younger stopped at about 2. He was one of those babies who appear not to need sleep but are actually happier if you insist on it.

The only reason I queried it is it sounded like her parents both work which usually means sleeping late is not an option.

Argh!!! My "good sleeper" napped until 48 months, the others were forced to stop napping at 24 months or they were awake all night and got less sleep in 24hrs than they did without a nap. I had to pull the eldest out of a daycare provider who simply could not comprehend that 1/2 nap in the day caused her to go to bed 3 hrs later, wake up more and often get up earlier. Where as no nap and she'd collapse into bed at 6:30, sleep better all night, until a reasonable hr in the morning and then have a decent day the next day... But if she napped even 20 mins she'd be down 3+ hrs sleep that 24 hr period and it would be days of agony as we corrected it, only to repeat the next time she went to care. It was a nightmare.

#2 could nap and still sleep well at night until she was 4ish, #3 was more like the eldest but less extreme...

Nap? What is a nap? She gave up all napping 1 month after turning 2. If we insist on it she would get REALLY grumpy and not be able to sleep until 11 or 12 at night. She sleeps for about 11 hours a day - to bed at 9:30 and up at 8:30 the next morning. On weekends she often will sleep until 9:30 or 10am, but then be so bounce-off-the-walls awake that we can't get her to sleep until 11pm. She gave up morning naps at 6 months. Naps are bad news for her, but she's always been an excellent sleeper. She started sleeping through the night (9pm-8am) starting at 2 weeks old, and has stuck with this pattern her whole life. Even as a newborn, for those first 2 weeks she would only wake up once to feed. On vacations she can pretty easily go to bed a little later due to the excitement of the trip, and she's fine. If we put her to bed at 7:30 (after dealing with all the screaming) we would only get to spend 1.5 hours with her (pick up at 6). Add in the 0.5 h in the morning, and that's 2 hours of contact a day with my child - totally unacceptable. I'd be happy to have her nap at school but she truly doesn't need it.

Tired really doesn't exist at our house. Nor does getting up before 8am (for any of us!).

I have not tried DreamBox. We did sign up for ABCmouse.com but she doesn't like it - except for the various art activities which she thinks are fun. She says the rest is boring (and she was doing level 6-K), and I have to agree with her. I'll check out DreamBox; thanks.

The Montessori school, in "camp" setup, has no montessori materials out, only puzzles and lots of different artsy and crafty materials and projects related to the theme for the week. It's clear she is bored, but the other kids seem happy and like this stuff.... We're told she spends a lot of the day reading, although she does do some of the projects. For outside time she spends ALL of it writing with sidewalk chalk (writing is the driving thing for her right now). My gut tells me that when the school year starts and the academic stuff comes out she'll be much happier.