are really bright kids harder to parent?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another vote for factoring in many things in addition to intelligence. My sister and I were both in a gifted program. She's 5 years younger and always was a challenge to my parents. I was the good girl older child - good grades, stayed out of trouble (or knew how to avoid getting caught). My sister was constantly bored in school, so channeled her intellect and energy into poor choices. She was smart enough to do what ever she wanted in life, but lacked self-confidence and always chose to hang out with kids who were her not nearly as smart as she was. She is now a 30-something, unemployed addict who has fried way too many brain cells.

This is a real shame. Why do you think your younger sister turned out this way? And why was she so bored in school?

PP here. I think my sister definitely had a predisposition for addiction and risk taking. She was bored in school because she was never challenged enough and hung out with the "wrong" crowd, essentially dumbing herself down to their level. In high school, she got a D in health. The only way you get a D in Health is if you totally blow it off and don't turn in your homework. There were other factors, too, like trying to make herself as different from me, the "good" kid, as possible. I was definitely bored in school at times, but escaped to books, sports, other things to channel my energy and curiosity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

f you have a truly exceptionally smart kid -- say, IQ in the 140's or above -- that kid probably will have intellectual abilities that are WAY out of sync with his/her emotional abilities. The kid may have a really hard time finding peers who will accept him or her and that he/she can relate to. High-IQ children often also have elevated levels of anxiety.

Yes, yes, and yes.

We are grappling with the anxiety right now. My child has a very difficult time relating to his peers, and they do not seem to like him very much. His social skills, ie, the 'emotional abilities' from above, are not too great. The rejection by most of the kids at school makes him understandably anxious, and he's just about given up on having friends. It kills me to write this.

You know who he relates to? Teenagers with a penchant for math and engineering. But it's an unrequited love because they are 16 and he is 8.

Bless his heart...poor little guy. I hope things get easier for him. YOu may want to consider putting him in a differentiated program for school so he's with kids like him all the time. I know that this might not be possible but if so it would help. Even maybe getting him in a camp or program like Johns hopkins Center for Talented YOuth or something similar where he can meet some like minds outside of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is 1 and clearly very bright, and she is constantly thinking circles around the other kids at day care-- her teachers adore her but she is much more high maintenance. More interactive, more curious, gets into more trouble. I could never sit her down with a toy and expect her to play with it-- she always has her own ideas. Play time is chase time for ME. I think it's definitely harder raising a bright child, but then again I have never raised any other kind.

Clearly the poster is joking.

[Anonymous]

Indeed they are. Whenever I try to talk in baby talk to my seven-month-old, he gives a deep sigh and turns back to his Tolstoy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Indeed they are. Whenever I try to talk in baby talk to my seven-month-old, he gives a deep sigh and turns back to his Tolstoy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Indeed they are. Whenever I try to talk in baby talk to my seven-month-old, he gives a deep sigh and turns back to his Tolstoy.

Get over yourself. My little miracle baby-gift from God-contribution to society-future curer of cancer-rising architect of world peace -- Fennington III is working on an exciting new translation of Proust's --- Fenny! Stop eating your snot! You'll jeopardize my DAR membership! Where's that mofo illegal, under the table, nanny?

[Anonymous]

If bright children are harder to parent then DD must be a f'ing genius!