I borrowed this idea from Tova at Who Let This Happen?
Every Friday, when I remember/feel like it, I’ll confess something.
I confess that I think Theo is special.
I know, you think that your child is special but mine, well, he is Extra Special. I happen to find him devastatingly handsome, hilarious, athletic and musical.
My husband, a teacher of many years, says all parents of young children think their children are gifted in some way. Every year, fledgling mystics, pint-sized geniuses, future NBA stars and catwalk models enter school system. Several months later, the harsh light of averageness starts to appear, something that is much harder for parents than children to handle.
Look at him dogpile! Now that's talent!
The good news is that gives me three more years to revel in Theo’s specialness and dream of his future as a musician/soccer player/artist/radio host/prime minister and all round awesome guy.
Do you secretly think your child is gifted in some way?
Yup I’m pretty much convinced that Leo is a genius. I mean, he already uses the “I” pronoun correctly and the other day he said “because”! How many two year olds do that? 🙂
NONE! He IS a Genius!
Harriet Fancott harriet@karmavore.com
My daycare provider told me my son is ‘quietly intelligent’ which, of course, means super genius. And he’s extremely sensitive and a natural actor and dancer. And he has a mean fastball. He’s giant super…well…toddler! GO MAX!
Wow you’ve been corroborated by a childcare professional!
I didn’t actually think Adam was that smart until other people started telling me that most children don’t start reading at 15 months. And apparently teaching yourself to count backwards by 5s and 10s when you’re three isn’t the norm. Who knew?
We’re looking into having him privately tested in the next couple months so that the school will be forced to provide more challenging work for him.
As for Leah, I secretly think she’s gifted because she can dress herself and has great fashion sense. (And she can count to nine — that’s pretty good, right?)
Theo was still eating books at 15-months!
I thought Theo was very handsome and clever when I met him 🙂
Theo IS awesome. From what I know of him, I’ll feed into your knowledge of how awesome Theo really is. The child/parent psychology experts would probably say all parents think their children are awesome so they’ll continue to want to raise their kids past the difficult parts of being babies and toddlers. But I think that’s BS. Theo’s awesome because he’s Theo and because he has such fantastic, loving & involved parents allowing him to be himself.
You are so sweet. Keep it coming! *lol*
Hubby seems to think K is especially strong just because he can hang and hold his weight up on the bar above the slide at the nearby schoolyard. When he can push the vaccum cleaner around and clean the house, then I’ll be impressed. (Actually, I think he’s a great dancer!)
Ha! Yes get him vacuuming!
Harriet Fancott harriet@karmavore.com
I love it when my MIL or siblings or parents say that Hector is smart for his age and I go, “I know! He’s a genius!!!” – which always gets a laugh.
Harriet, I really believe that the tragedy happens when parents don’t believe their child(ren) are extra-special.
It’s true. We need to have that ferocious love for our children and believe in their uniqueness. It’s essential for their survival isn’t it?
Oh I totally think B is a freaking genius!! Well he wasn’t reading at 15 months like the kid up there, but he did know his uppercase&lowercase abc’s by 18 months. He’s 2.5 now and lightly reads. His preschool teacher whispers to me that he’s sooo smart. Oh and he says, “actually”.
I’m sure theo is a genius too. Too bad we didn’t live closer–we could have a genius preschool.
I know Theo is special! I can’t wait to see what he becomes in life! I think both my kids are super bright!
Twinkle has a ton of language and is already drawng cats. None of the other kids at her daycare draw anything but scribbles.. Look out world, here comes the next great artist.
P.s when Theo goes on tour as a musician, Twinkle can be one of his backup dancers or singers!
Parents are always their childrens biggest cheerleaders! Yay for Theo!
I know that my oldest Mack is an insanely talented artist, she has been since she was small. I have always been so proud of what she can do, especially since I absolutely cannot. Not even a cute stick figure.
I know that my Mea is so athletic, and her language and reading skills are off the charts. After having Mack take after me in not being at all coordinated, it’s awesome to be able to cheer for Mea when she is being her sporty little self. 🙂
I have a genius too, don’t tell him though it might go to his head!
It’s funny. There’s kind of this duality to it for me. I think Lilah is a linguistic genius, because she is doing things that some of the kids I work with don’t do till they’re 4 or 5. She makes connections that some of them don’ t even make before they head off to kindergarten, and she learns so quickly. Sometimes she only hears a new word ONCE and it is in her vocabulary. But at the same time, I also know she is within the average range for girls. And in my line of work, we shoot for average. So I’m pretty happy with average.
Ha. Don’t forget she was also walking at 9 months! That kid is on fire 😉
Harriet Fancott harriet@karmavore.com
Of course I think both my kids are special for different reasons, Sarah with her ability to make connections and her vocabulary. Jack with his athletic ability and his memory.
It is funny that the reality of average is already rearing its ugly head in pre-school at age 4. Sarah’s friend is writing words (not just her family’s names) and learned to tie her shoe laces after being shown only once and now ties everyone’s shoes at pre-school.
But after seeing what a difficult time gifted kids can have in school and with their peers, I will be happy with average, or maybe a little above average;)
My doctor thinks my son is gifted. This worries me because my mom’s family (which I think of as “my family,” though we don’t communicate) is full of gifted but thoroughly depressed individuals.
I said as much at our appointment a couple of weeks back. She laughed, kindly, and said: “I’m sure you’ll be able to help him be both gifted and happy. Keep doing what you’re doing.”
As long as he keeps on laughing that beautiful laugh as his, I’ll know he’s gifted in the art of filling my heart with joy in a way nothing else can. ♥
Fingers crossed on the gifted AND happy. And I do think the specialness is really about how feel about our children. *sigh*
Marcel’s donor was telling me that all children are born with all of the genius qualities and if school/life/parenting etc were ideal in every way life would just be about allowing the intuition of those things to be realized.. I love that. I suppose many feel this way–but it just means your parenting is extra sensational 🙂
I love to use the fact that my son won National Honours in Maths last year in as many conversations as I can. My 5 year old can (almost) read and has the ability to sound words out (when she feels like it) on her own. My 8 month old won’t crawl, but she loves showers.
I think every child has their own unique and beautiful talents, and given the right encouragement will grow to be happy and healthy adults.
THAT’s all I truly care about. My children might not be the best at everything, or maybe they won’t be good at anything. But they’ll be loved just the same. And I think that might be more important than feeling great about an accomplishment. There will always be someone ‘better’ at something.
But nobody will be as loved by me as they are. And nothing, no amount of genius-i-ousity or talent will make me love them more, and nothing could ever make me love them less.