Happy Holidays all! It was interesting reading everyone's behavior modifications surrounding what to say about their advanced wee ones. I found that I completely shut down when DS was an advanced tot in family education classes. Then when he got a bit older, there was no hiding that he was beyond others his age. We now take the "sit back and wait for comments/questions" approach, responding as honestly and trying not to sound like we're bragging. Mostly this is to spare hurt feelings on the part of families with kids of their own, of any age. I freely brag to childless friends.
At our holiday gathering a week ago, DS5 brought along his Monopoly game and introduced it to his 8yo cousin, who had never played. At one point, when DS5 was counting change, 8yo cousin turned to me and said "He's really good with math!" I said, "Yes, he really likes math." And that was it. My adult cousin, whose family we vacationed with over the summer, came over another time and asked DS5 is he was the smartest one in his kindergarten. DS said, "No." Adult cousin persisted in insisting that she was sure that he was. I didn't say anything to this, but cringed since I just read Mindset and I'm trying to praise effort and not smartness. Oh well.
I've come to the conclusion that once the kid is in school, there's no hiding his abilities, and so there is no longer any reason to try to hide them. We just try to be considerate of others in our responses. If people take offense, that is their problem, not mine.
