Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school play groups and moms

Hi flower. First welcome to the board and I hope you will find a welcoming group that will give you the strength you need when you do have to advocate and the shoulder to cry on when you need it. This is a great bunch of people here and you will hopefully find as I have ... people with lots of experience.

As for the mommy group. I, personally, stay clear of mentioning anything in playgroups, especially Mommy groups. Might just be my area, but the groups can be a little clickie and then when you mention something that is advanced for the age group the other moms get offended due to jealousy or preconceived opinion that we have all heard before, such as they all even out by X. In the end it is best to stay closed lip about your DC's abilities. Just consider the mom's group as an allotted time for the needed socializing. This isn't to say your DD won't be raising the eyebrows but if she is doing it on her end it really is their own issue. Just like we can't jump in and lecture another mom about the lack of discipline her sweet is displaying ... they shouldn't be able to push the topic of 'pushing' on us if our child is doing something advanced. But they will so just be ready with some basic phrases such as ... as if I could stop her. She is all about books books books.

When my DD was younger I got a lot of the comments too but now that she is 3 1/2 we don't really deal with that anymore. Most of the time other parents come to me to voice how smart DD is and for some reason I don't get the vibe of 'pushed' that I did before.

I am really quiet about both the gifted part and the autism part of DS unless someone asks or comments. Sometimes, I feel like I have to explain a behavior, but often I do not...it depends on the mom. Like other posters, he "outs" himself frequently.

What is going on right now, is that moms are asking, "What are you doing for the summer?" I will sometimes say vaguely, "Oh, a couple of summer camps." And other times I will say, "Can you believe he DEMANDED we send him to a math camp??" And with close people I will moan about the difficulty of finding a place to keep him challenged and interested all summer long!

Other moms are definitely challenging for me ha ha Nan

thank-you for the warm welcome and support. I have no idea what this little one is going to be, gifted or not or whatever. Maybe I do not even belong on this discussion board? I have a twelve year old who I consider gifted but her IQ test on the SB 5 was at 120 with a 127 in verbal and a 129 in fluid reasoning. She is very smart having conmpleted Algebra I in 6th grade and she writes amazing stories reads on the college level etc. I have had to really struggle to get her services partly because I was "quiet" about her accomplishments and then did not understand some things..... I do not think that she is PG but I do think at least MG. When she was this age she knew her colours, counted and was this amazing talker once she knew you very well. This little one is similar but also includes the alphabet and a few sight words. Due to the struggles with the older one we have been incontact with GDC who wanted to know my IQ. I don't know my IQ but learned yesterday that my older brother is 149. What amazes me about that is that puts me in the potential of being MG. He was always really clever in that special kind of way. Anyways my little ones dad is extremely smart. He is a well known PhD scientist in his field, widely published etc. As for the play group I am a stay at home mom and I really like having the companionship of these mothers. I am the only one who already has a child and I am also the oldest in the group by a number of years. I think one thing I miss is an older woman who also already has children. I also can see the "pushing" issue drop away because I think to myself if my kiddo was 3 or so I would not be hesitating making words on the fridge. The truth is I get bored saying H yes G yes I yes n Yes f etc...... I needed a bit of spice. It was my older daughter who actually started the word game on the fridge as I think she was a bit bored to. Then i also wonder is boredom not our biological way of moving on.... facilitating that next step...Anyways little one is here and wants attention. Thank-you again for your feedback and perspectives.

There is a multitude of ability on this board and even if your daughter happens to be MG it certainly does not mean you are not welcome. When they are young it is hard to categories what gifted bracket they fall within but something made you search a gifted community and we are glad you found us.