I wonder how many of the "wicked smart" parents with kids "not as smart" are actually "wicked smart". This area has a lot of transplants and people who were extremely smart for their hometown, top of their class, always ahead of everyone else in Booberville, Indiana and grew up internalizing being the smartest kid in the class. Their children are all growing up in an area where everyone is smart and highly educated. A kid who seems OK but not incredibly smart here would stand out back in your original hometown but seem average here. In addition, IQ scores and testing have changed. A high score 20-30-40 years ago would be equivalent to a lower score today.

Its more probable that the children are in the same "smart" range as the parents but the perceptions have simply changed because who you compare against is different.

Too soon to tell. Personality also may be at play with one kid. That child tends not to be a risk taker, which I think holds the child back. The school says that child is very strong academically, but until I see some of the standardized testing results I won't know for sure. The other is still fairly young but seems much quicker. It may all be personality. I am "highly/profoundly gifted" but have a IQ slightly under 160, which (at least back in the day) is the cut off for "genuis".

I remember 5th Grade as being a break out year for me, so I am sort of waiting to see where the kids are then to judge what their abilities are.

Adoptive mom here.

Nope...but love her to death anyway.

I'm very meh about intelligence. I'm 'average' but skipped two grades. My husband is scary smart. We'll see about DS.

Dh is super smart and I agree with two PPs - it's not always ideal to be scary high IQ if that comes with the personality, uh, deficits that often accompany very high IQ individuals. (note: I didnt say "all" such geniuses. Yo yo Ma seems like a funny guy

Anyway, ds 8 is pretty clearly as high IQ as dh BUT he is lazy and completely non-competitive. He has no drive as of yet. Whereas dh always had to be Number One and, in fact, he always was. DS doesn't give a crap.

DH and I are both above average intelligence but not genius level. One child is brighter than us both and has always shown giftedness in math and science. Second child is very bright and excels at writing and foreign languages. Youngest is bright but a very inconsistent in her grades. She also just doesn't seem to care about academics as much. Her talents seem to be in the realms of the interpersonal and creative.

DH and I are above average intelligence. Like the pp said I have a ridiculous standard of what a genius is. DS is 4.5 and his mind works differently than the average 4 yr old and I see things that point to above average intelligence (I work with education issues daily with all levels). DD is 1.5, too early to tell but I fear it may have skipped her. Who knows though. If they were dumb as bricks it would be difficult for me. While I have become somewhat more patient over the years in 4th grade the teacher called my mother to say "xyz doesn't suffer fools silently and I see her rolling her eyes and frustrated by fellow students..." yikes

Intelligence seemed to have skipped a generation in our house. Well, it at least skipped over our 3 kids and I'm hoping it appears in my grandkids one day. And of course I love my kids just the way they are but I have a "genius" IQ and they have just above average IQs.

wicked smart? are you from boston

I am very smart and motivated and not scared of a challenge. My oldest is in middle school and is an A and B student, but takes no risks. But he has this incredible strength of getting teachers, counselors and the principal to adore him. Although he is bright enough, he isn't likely to go to college because he doesn't love learning. He wants to learn a trade so he can work and he doesn't see anything but trade school as getting him there. I haven't stopped saving for college but I have come to terms with the fact that he's not likely to be like me and pursue multiple advanced degrees. My middle son is really bright but has no clue and doesn't care. He loves learning for learning sake alone and never even asks what his report card says. My youngest is off the charts smart and totally fearless but too young to figure out. I would bet she is most like me but way more fearless.

DH and I are smart and so is DD. But DS is a real genius -- scary, almost. He's 13 and just runs rings around us. I think it's not very easy for him to be that way -- I wouldn't say super-smartness is 100% a blessing.

He's too young to say. Chill out about it.

Anonymous wrote:Neither I nor my partner are what I would term a genius. My bar for genius is pretty high. But, we are fairly intelligent and we have a 3-year-old who is... not The first clue was that he is uber-aware of his body-- potty-trained at 26 months, has played soccer like a champ since 2.5, can mimic * amazing * pitches just by watching the Nats on TV. Anyway, I have to keep in mind his other strengths and stay positive that he is not very curious, not very questioning, not very... smart. We try really, really hard to not become frustrated at his lack of intelligence. It's hard.

He'll probably do very well if he is articulate and charismatic. Better than the uber smarties with no personalities.

Neither I nor my partner are what I would term a genius. My bar for genius is pretty high. But, we are fairly intelligent and we have a 3-year-old who is... not The first clue was that he is uber-aware of his body-- potty-trained at 26 months, has played soccer like a champ since 2.5, can mimic * amazing * pitches just by watching the Nats on TV. Anyway, I have to keep in mind his other strengths and stay positive that he is not very curious, not very questioning, not very... smart. We try really, really hard to not become frustrated at his lack of intelligence. It's hard.

I'm just kind of curious how that plays out in real life.

Mine are both still in the eating poop stage, so it's pretty hard to tell. And no, I won't love them any less if the don't grow up to be big dorks like mom and dad, or push 2 hours of daily kumon on them at age 4.