Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Quirkiness

DS6 makes dog noises to express happiness or sadness. Not like all the time, just when he wants to be funny. Happy is an open mouth pant, big eyes and a little dance that looks like a tail wag. Sad is a little wimper with his hands up like begging paws.

Ah, I thought DD was the only one who did that! Right down to tiny pieces of paper taped on, and remembering all the obscure names.

DS sometimes communicates by meowing or mooing.

We have skirted this problem by telling her we have to buy those. Instead she will obsessively organize them while we are waiting in line.


DD7 will organize things at stores while we wait in line. She is famous for doing this at the Deli. Many of the employees have joked about her getting a job. It's funny that our family fits so many of these quirks but I considered them normal or kid stuff.

Seriously, these are quirks? Why didn't anyone tell me when I was younger. To me this is normal and my whole house is this way. My DD9 likes to hum or sing while doing homework or reading or just doing whatever. I didn't think that was odd until our nephew moved in with us and asked us if she does that all the time. Umm, yeah, doesn't everyone? My DD and DH collect rocks and skulls and well anything else they find interesting. My house is like a cheap museum where nothing is really organized and you have to ask the curators (DD and DH) what they are because there isn't any other way of telling. And then you wish you hadn't because you'll get the complete history of the earth along with the answer you were really looking for.

Does anyone else have to interrupt a story to tell the spouse or child to please get to the point? I hate to do this but if I don't I may never find out what I need to know by the time I need to know it.

DH is constantly interrupting and ask that I get to the point. I don't intentionally give full details but have to at the same time. Does that make sense?

DS yes, DH no. DS seems to have difficulty, even when prompted and willing, in forming the appropriate abstraction, i.e. working out what part of what he's thinking is of interest to his listener and what they need to know in order to understand it. I hope he'll learn!

Come to think of it, though, he can do it fine in other contexts, e.g. when developing a presentation. Maybe it's more that he can't conceive of anyone not being as interested as he is in every detail of certain subjects...

Also yes to many things in this thread, and to not having seen them as other than normal!

DD loves take-out menus. Her favorite one is the one from Jumba Juice which is more of a brochure. She giggles every time she gets to Groovy Guava.

She is so quirky and strange. I do worry about her a lot.

Quirky is right! Luckily, the kids' friends find their quirks endearing.

My older DS liked to pretend he was a bird, always sitting on his eggs and finding worms, when he was 3ish. Now, as a teenager, he likes to collect all kinds of things, from recyclable paper to bottles to jars. He is also currently into watching every last episode of Little House on the Prairie.

DD always has the most interesting birthday and Christmas lists - nothing like those of her teenage peers: unicycle, stilts, anything from ThinkGeek. This year, when she turned 12, she asked for drywall stilts and a colorful (fake) tiger head to mount on her wall. She could care less if her hair is brushed. And her favorite shows are Psych, Big Bang Theory, and Say Yes to the Dress.

Younger DS used to lay in bed, when he was three, calling out multiplication facts and asking us if he'd figured them out correctly in his head. When he was a baby he wouldn't eat if the silverware drawer wasnt' closed completely. When he was fourish, before he would read a page in a book, he always had to point to the middle line first. Later, he insisted on only reading chapter books with exactly ten chapters. Oh, and in preschool, his goal for the first year was to never have to use the bathroom - just because he thought that would be a fun goal and it kept school interesting!

And DH and I are no more muggle-like than the kids.

BTW: Threads like this remind me of why I love you guys!

My nephew came into a crowded room and started telling a story in a frantic upset way. There were all sorts of details about him going to restroom and needing to blow his nose and how someone had lit a pretty candle in there. After way too long he gets too "and my tissue caught on fire and is still on fire in the trash can." We tease him about that one still.

Awesome.

My favourite is the family member, who if you ask a question such as "Where is my husband?" will reply along the lines of "Well I have this problem with the cable for the stereo in my car.... your car.... thought.... fixing... blah blah blah..." And if you have half an hour that monologue WILL end with where my husband is, but really, could they not say "In my car."?