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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Pp here. My oldest is now in high school. When he was younger and I was a more insecure parent, it made me feel bad when other kids were reading or swimming or riding a bike when he could do none of those things. It felt like everyone was more advanced than he was and it made me feel bad.

Now he is a straight A student and competitive athlete. There are kids we know who are Olympic hopefuls or will one day be recruited athletes. This does not bother me one bit. Some kids are true academic superstars winning academic competitions and that is fine too. I don’t feel bad at all. I’m glad my child was able to participate and learn.[/quote]

This has nothing to do with competitive parents, though. I get what you are saying -- there have been things my kid learned later than other kids and it's always a little hard because you wonder if you are doing something wrong or if they will catch up. And then they do.

But the issue of competitive parents is separate. There are many ways in which my kids are doing great, but I still don't like talking to competitive parents on those subjects. Like my kid actually read on the early side and is a very strong reader now. I actually hate discussing this with people who are ultra-competitive because the fact that my kid took to that one thing pretty easily will feel like a challenge to them, and they'll be even more intense than if their kid was further along than mine.

I just dislike that intensity you can sometimes feel coming off a very competitive person where you can feel they are looking for a way to "win" the conversation or assert their dominance. It's probably my least favorite personality trait, whether we're talking about another parent or not. I much prefer to interact with people who feel very secure in themselves, or if they are insecure, deal with it in an internal way instead of trying to use me as some kind of measuring stick to make themselves feel better (or lash out if they feel worse).[/quote]

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