Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Tell me some positive things about gifted kids

I am in desperate need of a cheer-up! Both my kids have "problems" that are being attributed to their high intelligence. I want to hear some positive things about giftedness!

LB, 3.5, is having issues socially at school. After always playing by himself he is suddenly Mr. Social Butterfly but doesn't quite know how to fit in with the other kids. He's had some problems with aggression (out of frustration) when the other kids don't do what he wants. His preschool teacher/director totally "gets" him and says that she feels there is a huge gap between his intellectual development and his social development. She also feels that he is "overintellectualizing" things (e.g., focusing on one thing or person to play with and not being able to let go of that thought.)

Then there's the baby, LC, who is now 8.5 months. She has sleep issues that a $600 sleep consultant with a 99% success couldn't solve. Our pediatrician--who seems to "get" the kids too (he's always saying, "You know your kids are really smart, right???")--says that he thinks LC has an "overly active mind" and that's part of the reason why she can't settle down.

Anyway, let's focus on the positive! Tell me some good things I have to look forward to.

Jokes...lots and lots of really, really good jokes!

And stories...

and plays...

and cute little love letters, full of really big words...

and empathetic hearts, bursting with love for you...

Lots of good stuff!

peace
minnie

PS Hope you get some sleep soon--it's rough always to be tired.

DS7 didn't sleep through the night until he was 4.5 so I feel your pain. We got the same thing ie: overactive brain. But Minnie is right about all of the rest too. The intensity carries through everything. We can't watch the news because he worries himself sick about things he has no control over.

One of my favorite things is my son's overwhelming sarcasm. It's also the thing that freaks out the grown-ups that he runs across that don't know him. As soon as he opens his mouth, any hope of blending in is gone.

Well, starting at the age of 3, you get a kid who can program your TIVO, fix any setting on your cell phone, send goofy text messages to EVERYONE in your address book and pitch the most phenomenal fits in the middle of the night due to sugar imbalance (or something).

And remember that old parental trick of spelling things to prevent young ears from hearing too much? Fuggedaboutit!!!

Finally... if you manage to provide just a fraction of the support/love/challenge they really need, perhaps they'll go off and do wondrous -- and financially rewarding -- feats for the benefit of humanity... and be able to support YOU financially while you dotter away your golden years rocking on your front porch, muttering something about standard deviations, LOGs, or some such nonsense.

yay! esp. the financially support me part. maybe I *should* hothouse my kid to graduate with 2 degrees by the time they're 18 so they can start working sooner.

Sympathy, btdt! I agree with what everyone else says, but maybe the part you'd most like to think about is that in a while you may have insatiable readers who will just disappear and be found hours later, when it occurs to you that it's very quiet, still reading, or children who leave you to sleep in on a Saturday morning while they get busy playing chess against themselves... Hang in there.

I hear you on the sleep issue - I have two sleepless little ones. As a result, my once at least ok mind (I mean it had to come from somewhere right? ) now has trouble remember what I went to the cupboard for

But the good things I see so far are the very sweet things they say, and how much they just want to help so much. Or the amazing things I would never notice if they didn't point them out to me.

I have a friend who says that a kid who slept all the time would be so boring. Well, she's not as sleep deprived as I am, and I always tell her I could do boring. But really, I know what she means.

This made me chuckle. DH and I have our own language... however, DS6 has caught on, and because it's gotten so large, DH and I have no idea what we're saying to each other. DS6 has to translate!

Big hugs, big laughs, and a big heart (well both kids' hearts - even though we're not sure about DD4's LOG, if any) are my favorite things! And I am really appreciating my own growth and self understanding going through "this" with DS6. It's truly an amazing ride.

I've got to second this. For me, the most unexpected and amazing thing to come out of having a gifted kid has been the self-knowledge that I've gained from following this forum and reading every gifted book I can get my hands on. It's kind of shocking to think that had I never had kids, I never would have figured out why I was so miserable as a child, why I still have trouble fitting in, why I feel so underemployed at every job I get, etc. It took just a few months of learning about giftedness to get my son in a good educational placement, but it's taking years to sort out and try to right all that I've learned about myself in the process.