Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion You know you're raising a child with OEs when...

Or alternatively, when your DS spends all his time scouring the ground to see if any butterflies need rescuing, thereby forgetting to look up to admire the ones that are fluttering by.

Sounds like you are sweet, too! At least to butterflies.

The funny thing is, this particular child is not known for holding still (had a phase around two yo when the favored mode of travel was two-footed hopping). I've wondered if there was a sense of kinship with the fragility of butterflies. This is my intuitive kid...

When your DS5 doesn't want to read the picture book Ms Martine Breaks the Rules because, well, Ms. Martine breaks the rules. No one is allowed to break the rules, not even the protagonist in a children's picture book. Oh, and then both boys generally break into a discussion about the moral of the story.

I'm guessing maybe it would be simpler (if not easier) to raise a NT child. Somehow, everything becomes an involved discussion in our household...

Yep we don't have a swan plant anymore because we couldn't keep up with feeding the thousands of caterpillars. I didn't know you could squish the eggs. We had several emergency trips to the nursery but they eventually sold out. We went on holidays for a few weeks and I thought we would come back to a caterpillar free garden only a friendly neighour kept them all alive for us - disaster!!!!

When your little one is unable to read about Eric Carles Miracula without being inconsolable because she loses her shell. Or read "Guess how much I love you" without being inconsolably sad for the little rabbit who is unable to keep up with endearments for the big rabbit. Or read a silly story, the name of which escapes me now, about a dragon that grows so tall it runs away with the house of his back and the postman can't deliver his letters without being inconsolable for the family who will be missing their letters.

When your NOT so little one anymore refuses to help with hanging up the laundry because touching the wet cotton fabric makes him feel so unbearably shivery to the point of screaming. Grrrr.

Your DD at 7 has to stop watching Bolt because she feels so bad for him when it becomes obvious to him that his super powers' were simply staged.

I'm so glad this OEs thread has caught on! I don't know about anyone else, but it really helps me to get reminders that DS6 and D5 (to a lesser extent) are not the only ones with all this intensity.

A few more examples on our end: 1. Three major bouts of tears over an old chair we gave away. 2. Getting very (very!) worked up that no one else was allowed to tell daddy that he swam a whole lap of the pool. To avoid anyone else blurting it out, he finally ran ahead to be the first into the house.

DD11 is a musical theater kid who constantly sings. Constantly. About a year ago she wrote a song that has worked its way in to her daily collection of show tunes. The lyrics are really poetic and way more nuanced and mature than I ever would have expected a 10 year old to have written.

This is her third summer attending an amazing arts camp. Every day they have "lunchtime concerts" and any camper or staff member can perform. I think this is one of her favorite parts of this camp - both performing and watching all the different performances each day. Today she decided to premier her song. She came home embarrassed because it was SO well received. Apparently huge cheers, loads of accolades. Everyone commenting to her the rest of the day. She has sung at these concerts a number of times before so is used to congratulations, high fives and "good jobs". I assume the big response was to the fact that she wrote this song herself and I have to honestly say I'm pretty impressed by it myself. She is saying things like "I wish they didn't love it" and that it makes her feel bad that it was such a hit.

I'm confused. The best I can come up with is that she is such a poetic soul she almost feels like a piece of her has been given away.

I wish I had known she was performing this song today - I certainly would have been there and of course recorded it. This way though I am relying on her report.

Anyone else have a kid whose OE leads to self deprecation? It seems like a combination of creative angst and imposter syndrome...

That's interesting Pemberley. Is she not able to explain why she feels that way? Our DS6 might have that sort of reaction if he feels like he is getting more accolades than the other kids, because he would feel like it wasn't "fair". Is that a possible explanation, given her personality?

In fact, come to think of it, DS6 has felt badly that he preferred one inanimate object over another before. It seems crazy, but he cares that much about fair and equal treatment.

I'm not sure if what I am about to share is an OE, but this seems like the best place for this story.

Last night DS5 had his swimming lessons at our local outdoor pool. After the lesson we went to the attached park. It was a beautiful evening and there was a "music in the park" free concert going on. We decided to walk over to the stage area and listen to one or two songs before heading home. There was only one man on the stage and we arrived in time to watch/hear him sing an acoustic version of a lesser-known Neil Young song. DS5 was immediately taken with the music, asking me to record it and wanting me to hold him up so that he could see better. He was so moved by the music that he started hugging me tight and putting his head down on my shoulder. I asked him if he was okay and he said he loved the song and that it made it feel "happy-sad". We decided to leave after the song was over but when we got to the parking lot, it was obvious that DS5 was upset by something. When I asked him what was wrong, he said through tears that he "loved that song" and that he just had to know what song it was. Luckily DH was able to figure it out and we didn't have to go back to the bandstand to wait until the set was over so that we could ask the musician what song it was!

What a precious gift to be so moved by music that it makes you cry. I wasn't expecting to see this in a child so young but I now know that we had better give this kid more opportunities to listen to music and see it performed live. He had his piano lesson this morning... I am hoping that music will continue to be a source of joy/sorrow for him as he grows up.