Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy New here...maybe this is right place?

I think there are perhaps some kids who are physically advanced because they are simply more athletic. Then, there are kids who are physically advanced when they want to be, simply because they are more driven. And of course there are kids who are very highly gifted and who aren't interested in physical stuff as much or who have other issues that hold them back.

Wrt the neck control thing, I think that it shows awareness and focus. It might also show early motor development, or it could be that most newborns are physically capable of lifting their heads but don't because they don't have the desire.

It is so hard to tell what is going on inside those little heads sometimes. DD is one of those kids who always seems to have more going on under the surface than we can see. When she was a toddler, before she was even 18 months, she regularly walked up & down stairs, alternating feet, without holding on to anything (I hovered with my hands out like a lunatic, but she never fell). Then she stopped, and didn't do it again until she was 4. We've seen this pattern again and again with both mental and physical skills, but mostly with the physical ones. If it was simply about ability, I wouldn't expect to see regression. So I think it is largely about drive. The kid likes a challenge.

Every path has it's own advantages - I got to join the momy club because I had 'zero' idea of what normal was, and was blissfully ignorant. Of course when school started I got my payback. On the whole I'm sad that you feel lonely, but I'm jealous that you know 'right away.' Sooner or later, many of these kids 'out' us - and we can both be grateful that our children both did that.

Sounds like your DH and in-laws are on board, and that is also worth more then a whole subdivision full of mommy-club moms.

I'm really glad to hear that you are keeping notes.

Enjoy the board, and join Connecticut Association of Gifted, ok?
Grinity

I can relate to your dilemna, welcome to the boards.
I lost a friendship early on. I was socially aware enough to not talk about any of my child's milestones. But, then I met someone who had a child of a similar age, and she was sooo interested in learning more about my DD and how she was reading at age 2 or so. Well, turns out, she really wasn't that interested or hearing about it bothered her, and the friendship abruptly ended.
Now I am even more careful. Luckily, there are gt communities all over. My closest friend here in town has a son who would have qualified for DYS easily, had she known about it, and recently when I was overwhelmed by achievement test results she was the only person whom I could talk to.
You'll figure it out. It is hard and you need support, you seem to have it in your in laws, our families don't really get it.

Yes you do need support,and it's great that you have some of that from family.

I didn't really know about giftedness when my son was born, searched high and low for the reason he just wouldn't sleep/stare like the other babies. I tried the Mommy-clubs, and I have to say they were a hindrance rather than a help. They made me feel like I was doing something wrong, and that's why my baby wasn't happy to lie under the mobile for twenty minutes. I accept that not all of the groups are like that, I'm just saying - it's quite possible you didn't miss anything, and maybe even saved yourself some grief.

Now, you know what you are looking for in support, and when you find it you'll know. Otherwise you can just let it go, IYKWIM.

That dovetails pretty neatly with my experience with dd. At five she developed a fondness for Sylvia Plath...but we kept extra underpants in the glove box of the car because potty training was still not 100%.