Disbelief

I run across this all the time. I don't take my kids to the doctor for every little thing. I only take them when I'm very concerned. And because I have lots of training in human biology, I don't get concerned very easily. But doctors almost always try to minimize my concerns. Because, I'm sure, so many moms drag their kids to the doctor for every cut or sniffle, and it really isn't a big deal. I have often come home from the doctor completely dissatisfied with his answer, then taken action on my own. And I'm usually right.

But when our new pediatrician told me to start searching for gifted preschool resources, I never expected to run into the same kind of disbelief. I called school districts. I talked with other mothers. I looked online. Someone even told me, "Every parent thinks their child is special, but when they get to school, they find their kids are right on track with everyone else."

I took that to heart. There are a lot of kids these days that go to preschool, because their parents work. They get preschool in daycare, or even as daycare. So they know their letters and numbers and many even read before kindergarten. Poor kindergarten teachers are forced to deal with children who come with vastly different experiences. I stopped calling around and asking questions. I figured maybe I was making more out of J's comments and questions and seeming intelligence.

This is rather funny, because I think I'd completely forgotten that I was in the gifted program, and that my husband was, too. And that my niece and nephew are. It's not like he's some random mutation, he's highly likely, through genetics, to be gifted.

When we bought a house and started getting settled in, I started worrying about kindergarten again. I made more calls. And I discovered something. As our conversation began, the person on the phone would act like I was just another parent who thought her kid was so great, but was probably normal. But the second I mentioned that their pediatrician had asked me to make the call, they suddenly acted like maybe I wasn't making it all up. It also helped when I said I was in GATE when I was younger.

Surprisingly, it doesn't seem to make a bit of difference when I list some of his accomplishments. I have mentioned to a few different people that J started doing multiplication last summer. It evokes no reaction whatsoever. When I say he reads books by himself, there's not much of a reaction, either. I guess I can understand that. Maybe he's reading board books by himself, the kind that have five words on each page. And maybe they're books that I've read to him a million times and he just has it memorized.

I also get the feeling that people think I'm teaching him "tricks." Like I make him practice multiplication flashcards before I'll give him breakfast or something. I bet there are people who do that. Actually, I've babysat for some kids who had similar things done to them.

I guess I'll just have to wait for J to prove himself to his kindergarten teacher. Of course, it won't do much good. They don't have any sort of assistance for gifted kids until 3rd grade.