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12 Angry Men and 1 Girl

January 4, 2013 · 1 Comment

Friday night times means leftovers and family movie night at our house. With a couple loads of laundry thrown in. Tonight was no different, it’s been a long first week back at school and work – we were ready for some quality vegging out.

Animated princesses and SpongeBob usually feature prominently in the movie night lineup. My sweet gifted girl who wanted a poster of the periodic table for Christmas, could sit and zone out for hours to the adventures of Tinkerbell. Of course, that’s prime time for my budding Pinterest addiction.

We’ve been saving Soul Surfer on the DVR but somehow my husband and I got talking about the movie 12 Angry Men. We exchanged one of those “what do you think” looks over the leftover beef stew and both shrugged our shoulders. So, 12 Angry Men was the feature. I’m not talking the 1997 version with Tony Danza, but the original black and white starring Henry Fonda. With a 7-year old girl.

12 Angry Men

I admit I did a quick check on Common Sense Media to make sure I hadn’t forgotten some gruesome details. By the way, if you haven’t used this site before – check it out. I don’t always agree with their recommendations but it’s a handy tool.

Honestly, I thought she’d be bored since it’s lacking the action of a classic SpongeBob episode and when she ran out of the room I figured she’d had enough of our classic movie night. But then she came running back in with her calculator to try and figure out how many train cars could’ve passed by the window. You’ll have to watch the movie to get that reference. Personally, I just trusted that Henry Fonda would work it all out and convince all those grumpy guys, including Ed Begley Jr.’s dad. Obviously, she was hooked.

She made it all the way through, much to our surprise. Have to admit I loved seeing her captivated by a movie more than 50 years old.

Watching it with her generated conversation about keeping your mind open and not following the crowd – there are few topics more important to address with your kids. Not to mention an easy civics lesson. Yep, I’m feeling like I accomplished a lot of quality parenting tonight thanks to old-school Hollywood. Don’t judge.

Gary the Snail

I have a feeling tomorrow morning she’s going to be back to SpongeBob. And I’m ok with that because I’m a big Gary fan.

 

 

Filed Under: Musings Tagged: , , , ,

There Is Crying in T-Ball

November 27, 2012 · 5 Comments

There is crying in T-ballI know, I know; not all gifted kids are bookworms. Many are out there kicking soccer balls on Saturday, shooting hoops in the driveway, or turning cartwheels until their head spins. When I knew I was going to have a daughter I thought my weekends for the next several years would be filled with dance recitals and volleyball games. Ha!

The kids in our family are into sports. A lot of sports. So when my daughter turned three we signed her up for t-ball which was the only sport I could find for kids her age.

I know most little girls do gymnastics (at least in my neck of the woods) but I have what some have called an irrational fear of her breaking her neck that sport. But I did cave in and she took gymnastics for three weeks and that’s how we found out she has irrational fear of being upside down. And that took care of that.

T-Ball

Her birthday was in March and t-ball practice started in April so she was a very young player. We’d been to plenty of her cousin’s games so she was excited about playing until she saw the team shirts were blue – the horror! Pink was a big part of our lives back then. We supplemented the uniform with a pair of pink Chuck Taylor’s, pink ribbon for the ponytail and a pink batting helmet. She was definitely a three year old girly girl.

The first (and only) practice was exactly what I imagined it would be. The field was on a hill in a small, rural community. No one around except the inexperienced team, a capable and patient coach, anxious parents, and a bunch of cows grazing nearby. Very Norman Rockwellesque.

The kids learned how to catch the ball, which way to run the bases, and how to hit. Expectations for a t-ball team of three-year olds are thankfully pretty low.

Safety First

All you really need to know about the first year of t-ball was at my daughter’s first at bat she looked totally prepared. Her hot-pink batting helmet (it was huge, think Rick Moranis in Space Balls and she wore it the entire game), her stance was strong and her game face was tough. Just as she was ready to swing she she dropped the bat and ran screaming and crying, “Mom, I need more sunscreen!” That’s my girl.

She went on to play t-ball for 3 seasons but that first one was a doozy. There were tears at each and every game that first year.  I can’t tell you what they were for but she never wanted to quit. I think tears are just part of the landscape at that age.

The second season there were no tears (except one time the game got rained out) and she made friends. That was a huge win. Those games were the absolute best 45 minutes of the week that summer.

By the third season you could definitely tell which kids had natural athleticism and which didn’t. It became evident that t-ball and all thoughts of future softball games were going the way of gymnastics.

Lessons Learned

  • You’re never too young to be a part of a team
  • Tears are normal for three-year old girls (Right, please tell me I’m right!)
  • Good t-ball coaches are precious and I’m grateful for them
  • My kid would much rather read about sports than play them
  • Pink really does go with everything

I will always be grateful that I was able to see her be a part of her first team.

What was your child’s first experience with sports like?

Filed Under: Education Tagged: , ,

How to Recognize a Parent of a Gifted Child

November 2, 2012 · 217 Comments

Parents learning how to live with a gifted child have a few tell-tale signs. Just like you can usually spot parents of multiples (all those same-size car seats in the minivan are the usual giveaway) there are clues to recognizing these parents.

  • They’re on a first name basis with all the librarians in their lives. I say all librarians because these kids usually have books checked out from the school and the community library.
  • Books are scattered everywhere. Cars, bedrooms, home libraries (yes, I mean the bathroom), dining room table, homework spot, school locker, and stacked near every comfy chair they come across.
  • You know way too much about dinosaurs, Lego robotics, black holes, or whatever the topic of the week is that has captured 99% of your child’s attention.
  • There are no soccer games to attend on the weekends. (Read about our experiences with sports)
  • They know every summer camp, enrichment opportunity, and robot workshop available in a 50 mile radius.
  • When they talk about Hoagies, they don’t mean the sandwich.

But the number one way I’ve found to tell the difference is that the parent of a highly gifted or profoundly gifted child has a unique look of tired terror when discussing their child.

The Tiredness

Having a child on the far right of the bell curve can be exhausting. It’s tiring just keeping up with all of those questions, especially when they’re

gifted children

young. Thank goodness when they’re old enough to Google things themselves.

The Terror

The terror sets in when you realize schools usually don’t have a good game plan for how to effectively educate your child. If you’re like me, you thought that once Kindergarten started everything would be fine. Wrong!

In most cases that’s when the real work of parent advocacy begins – and doesn’t end until you pack them off to college.

Finding ways to keep your child interested and engaged in learning can take up more time than many parents realize. We’ve had to visit libraries and used book stores more than I ever thought possible just to keep a steady supply of reading material available.

But what reading material? What does a seven-year old at a 10th grade reading level read? That’s another blog post – stay tuned.

The Tears

I’ve had the honor to meet with several parents starting on this wonderful, terror-filled journey of raising gifted kids. Almost always the higher the child’s IQ, the less bragging there is, the more questions are asked, and the more tears are shed.

What’s your experience been with parents of gifted kids?

Filed Under: Musings Tagged: , , ,