Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Not-really-brag-so-much-as-quirky- anecdote thread

DH to DD5: Call the elevator.
DD5: (calls) Elevator!
DH: (sighs) no, with the button
DD5: (pinches button on her shirt and speaks into it like a lapel mic) Elevator!

Later at dinner, I was letting DD5 eat her dinner in front of the TV, I called over to her to ask if she had nearly finished and she answered "I just have a few things on my plate". I looked over and she had finished her food but put a few small toys on her plate, just waiting for me to ask her, so she could say her line.

What a crack up, this kid

I realize I only just posted this morning, but this afternoon DS8 pulled his own stunt. This one is more of a brag than a quirky anecdote, but I'm not sure where that thread went...

After getting kicked off the bus twice as far from home as the school is (long story, don't ask, amongst other things, the bus driver was misgendering him and he refused to put up with it -- yes, he's queerspawn, no, he's not gender-non-conforming) He sat though a 2.5 hour political meeting at a currently struck university, and came out asking better questions than many of the undergrads.

Although I wish he would kick transphobic ass somewhat less literally, I figure three hours of activism is a pretty good workday for an almost 9 yr old, and I can't really brag about this to anyone I know in person because... school politics x2. I can't really even tell *him* how proud I am because there's a bigger picture requiring him to be less strident at school.

I think he's going to be formidable someday... which might not be encouraging for his future happiness, but still kinda makes me happy.

Also: he officially got into the gifted programme yesterday, so there's that.

Bravo to your DS, Michaela. Everyone should be able to be accepted and respected for who they are. Hopefully fighting for his rights now will help him find his place in the world and be able to find peace and happiness once he’s there. You should be proud.

On a very quirky personal note - I am originally from a small coastal town where lobster was a practically a mainstay when I was a child. I am so immensely distraught that scientists are now pronouncing that the live (!!) cooking of lobster is cruel and should be banned. That, and I happened to see a fishing show on a tv screen while walking through an airport and was incredibly distraught that a fisherman was showing off a live fish that was “gaping for water”, as far as I could tell. OEs much?

Earlier this week, DS6 started reciting two prophecies he had memorized from the first Wings of Fire book. Thing is, he hasn't actually been taught how to read in English yet (he's learning in French first). And when I told him that it was probably a book for 4th graders, he started to brag about it to anyone who would listen. I told him it was rude to brag, so he asked me if he could advertise it instead.

And apparently, his two besties are envious of his reading abilities. So glad he has friends who value reading!

Reminds me of when one of ours was in K, reading chapter books fluently (that was also the summer of TinTin)...and was very eager to teach age peer friends to read. DC would sit with the other little 5-year-olds and help them sound out their Bob books. I love that none of them seem to have viewed the range of skills as anything remarkable.

Cute! And actually, DS6 has also suggested he could teach his friends. So great when they love to read so much that they want to share it, isn't it? To date, my biggest accomplishment with our boys is having imparted a deep love of reading.

Yes, it seems that the little ones readily accept a range of skills without the judgement or jealousy that can sometimes occur with older children. My son reads to the other children in his preschool class. They'll bring books over and ask him to read, or if he happens to be reading a book that interests them they'll ask him to read it out loud. They just view him as another resource and he enjoys helping. So sweet and natural. Hope it transfers to Kindergarten next year.

I'm not sure if this is a brag, a quirky anecdote, or both, but it sure was a fun thing to see:

DS-just-turned-5 was close to beating me at a game of chess, but he ended up needing to pull off a rook king checkmate in order to win. He didn't know how, although he did know enough to avoid a stalemate (I tried!). After about half an hour of me leading him on a merry chase around the board (and facing the prospect of a game that might never end!), I finally suggested that we could take a break so he could go learn how to do a rook-king checkmate. With zero assistance or input, he got our Ipad, typed in "rook-king checkmate" into the search box of Youtube, selected and watched an appropriate video, came back, and checkmated me in very short order.

I love these reading and chess brags!

DD13 decides she is going to create a YouTube channel with gaming videos - it's an activity she's already doing and enjoying, so if she captures videos and those put anything in her pocket, it's essentially found money. All good points. She asks me to help her with the technical challenges involved. I have no experience specifically in this, but I'm a technical guy, we can work together, search around, and figure out what she needs in software (and hardware, if any), analyze different products and their feature sets, price shop, etc.

Just then, a friend becomes available to play, and nothing more is said about it.

Two days later, out of the blue, DD says, "Dad, I've been working with a video capture and editing product, and I've made a couple of videos with it already. It does what I need it to do, I find it easy to use, and I've already invested time in learning it. The free trial ends tomorrow, but there's a limited-time offer to buy it at a third of its listed price. I've looked at several other products, and they all go for around the full price of this one. What should I do?"

After a couple of short questions are answered, I say, "Buy it."

So glad I could... help?