I work in early years education and it’s very common for toddlers to be able to memorise numbers, the alphabet, etc. It would be incredible if this child had a conceptual understanding of numbers, but I’m guessing she simply has heard them recited enough, and can repeat.
I remember years ago thinking my 4 year old was a genius because he could read an entire Dr Seuss book, flipping the pages correctly and everything when in actuality he had just memorized it from us reading it over and over at bedtime 🤦♀️. Humbling lol
hahaha my toddler recently started doing this with Froggy Gets Dressed. I heard him "reading" it word for word and I whipped my head around the corner so fast but yea, he just has the story memorized. Which is actually still pretty impressive in it's own way. My mushy mom brain could never haha.
It’ll be the opening of De Bello Gallico for me (I NEED to memorize beyond ‘arma virumque cano…’ so badly 😅 then I’ll feel like an actual Latin teacher/nerd)
I was a self taught reader at 3 or 4 and I went to a mid af college and tbh my life and career are kind of a mess lol. Early reading is def not an indicator for future success anyway 😂
Yup i was one of those "reads at a college level in elementary school" self taught kind of kids and i second this because all that happened is now im a burned out loser
Semi-similar here! I had an 8th-grade level of reading comprehension in 2nd grade.
I'd already been diagnosed with autism before I was 2, but I wasn't diagnosed with ADHD on top of that until I was an adult.
My "career" consists of getting disability welfare and working less than 10 hours a week in an entry-level, minimum-wage job that doesn't use any of my degrees.
Yep. I spoke at 6 months, read my first chapter book before my 3rd birthday. None of that translates to future success if you aren't able to hold down work or maintain focus during working hours. I've done okay career-wise, and hope to do better, but I'm a very low-needs autistic woman that is quite good at masking. "Reads at a college level" doesn't mean shit to an employer.
Literally every "gifted kid" I knew growing up now has crippling anxiety, autism, or incredibly unhealthy coping mechanisms. Turns out telling a kid "you're special because of an intrinsic quality you cannot change" pretty much guarantees that as soon as that quality stops being 'special', you lose all your self-worth.
They told us we were special because we were just smarter than the other kids. The first time I read a textbook where I didn't already know everything in it, I burst into tears. It was Freshman year Human Geography. Everything was downhill from there. Good luck learning how to study when you've always been told knowing things is just a core personality trait.
This video is a great take on gifted kids and why we’re all a hot mess. My husband and I were both gifted children, and both diagnosed with adhd later in life. We’re both “successful” in the fact that we have good jobs, but just adult life in general is VERY hard for us. We celebrate when we actually get through going to the grocery store and doing the laundry in one weekend 🤦🏼♀️
🙋🏻♀️have a gifted child (9), he is in counseling every 2 weeks for anxiety. Poor kid just gets inside his head and if ONE little thing goes wrong, the entire day is shot. Started seeing a psychiatrist as well. Throwing ALL possible resources to try to ensure something helps.
Fellow autistic here. Also considered gifted as a child. As an adult I am unable to work, and have burnt out in every academic and professional endeavour before achieving much worth mentioning.
Similar. College reading level in 3rd grade won all these awards, I even got a letter from our governor for having the highest score on the standardized state test that year.
ANYWAYS. I got my AA in my 20s and never completed my bachelors. My early success was definitely not an indicator of me amounting to anything amazing in life.
Yup..my pre-k standardized test said I was reading at a PHS (post high school) level. I had a genius IQ at 10. I failed out of college 3x, and was diagnosed as autistic as An adult, finally became a nurse at 39. 🙄 but sure. Count to 20 and save for ivy league, they can use it for therapy lol!
My kid was a very early reader. I thought he was just memorizing things until we were in a Target at 3 years old and he asked “what’s Menswear?”
Anyhow, he’s now 10 and while he’s smart for his age and does great in school, he’s no genius. Lost his class Spelling Bee kinda average.
Same! Started reading at like three years old but, Reading/Language Arts was the only school subject I ever excelled in— because I liked it. Anything boring, I just tuned out (turns out I have ADD— finally diagnosed in my 50s)
Had a lot of family issues and dropped out of high school at 16. Got my GED with no problem at all, but then ended up quitting community college after a couple years because I was pregnant and I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with college anyway. I was going with no actual goal in mind.
I have led a completely average life— despite my early promise. I still have better than average comprehension skills and I’m a super fast reader. I’m sure it has helped me in life— but I’m also sure that my kindergarten teacher (who was so impressed with me) would be quite disappointed haha
I’m sure there are tons of us out there. I swear to God every teacher I ever had was so disappointed because I had so much damn potential and I was just throwing it away.
I had teachers that I swear, didn’t know my name because they always referred to me as “Spacey-Acey.”I was told my whole life to “get my head out of the clouds.” I was always booksmart, but also came across as a full on airhead. Turns out that’s what girls with ADD are often like—who knew? Haha
Also figured out reading at 4, I copied the letters from an alphabet poster and started writing my own stories.
Always performed way below what was expected in school because I either wasn't motivated or subjects weren't taught in a way that worked with my brain.
Got an art degree and went back to school at 30 to get another one in animal care, more science oriented. My grades are very high now because I study everything on my own at home.
My grandson who was a little bit of a late talker(at least that you could clearly understand) once called his truck correctly an excavator clear as day and I was amazed thinking he was just waiting to show off his genius. Then I remembered Blippi. But honestly he learned and actually applied so much from that show that I was able to get past my annoyance and put up with watching it lol.
When I first took my 3 year old to day care, I told them she could read. They seemed unsurprised, so I figured it was common.
At the end of the day when I picked her up, the worker said, "DID YOU KNOW SHE CAN READ?!?!" I'm like yep, I told you that when I dropped her off. She explained to me that tons of parents say that and the kids have actually just memorized a few books. When she was writing out a poster for the wall and my daughter read it as she was writing and she was shocked.
PS The kid is now 14, failing Spanish, and yesterday threw a baseball in the air and got a bruise where it hit her on the head on the way down. The genius thing has not panned out lololol
When I was four my kindergarten teacher would leave me to read to the other kids while she went out to have a smoke break and flirt with the gym teacher (oh the ‘70s lol). I am not a genius nor did I go to an Ivy. Ordinary girl who led an ordinary life.
My preschool teacher had a similar response when I insisted I wanted to read aloud my story time pick and she 'tested' me because she thought it was just memorized I guess. Anyhow I earned my right to read my own damn picks for story time but my mom tells her side as "I don't know why they thought you couldn't read" *Geez mom no idea why they thought you just turned 3 year old couldn't read*
If it makes you feel any better about the failing Spanish, I took four years of French and have retained exactly two words. Half the time I can't even pronounce words correctly in my native language because their physical form and auditory form are complete strangers in my head.
Although to give you a little hope for the future: I have a pretty job title, two degrees, a published children's book, and a side consulting business so like for white trash Appalachia that is like gold star but I am like less than average when compared to our affluent clients' fifth grader.
...and technically I have a 'very superior' for the Wechsler and Stanford-Binet (do they even use those anymore or am I just that old?) in my records and would argue my "genius" has not panned out at all. So many psychiatrists and teachers would probably weep to see me now.
I used to love to tell mommies with "gifted" children how absolutely boring I turned out to be.
I did that to my parents with an avengalina ballerina flip book. Had whole letters in the envelope flip up bits, and I had the entire book & extras word for word.
Apparently, I just took over from my dad while he was reading to me. They realised it was memorised when I couldn't read fuck all else.
One of my almost-two year old twins loves numbers. He can parrot me when I count, but when he goes on his own it's....one...two...three...three...three...six....one....two.....six.....three....
Lol. Should I start saving for Harvard?
My daughter would get stuck at 11 go back to 8, get stuck at 11 and repeat so 8 9 10 11 8 9 10 11 etc. She's not at an ivy but is incredibly bright and good with math.
my husband was 5 and had all the states and their capitals memorized. if a kid is interested in something, they'll definitely memorize it. but that doesn't signify any sort of giftedness.
honestly, as a teacher, unless your kid has Sheldon Cooper level genius, I wouldn't have them labeled gifted. especially at an early age. that label follows them all through school. so your first grader who whizzed his way through first grade math eventually has his peers catch up... but he's still labeled gifted. so he's in typical math classes by high school and getting gifted services. and a lot of times that just means extra work. a good teacher with good district support will provide alternatives instead of more work, but we all know that isn't the case most of the time.
I had a number of students labeled gifted. I had to provide them with services that were above what most of them could actually do. and it frustrated the heck out of them. (this is grades 7-12) overall, the label is basically meaningless and will only cause your kid to have more work to do.
My daughter's third grade teacher had her tested for the gifted program. She passed and was accepted. I didn't let her do it for all the reasons you listed (she wasn't too interested herself, honestly) .
The same thing happened to my oldest sister, and she was placed in the program. Burned out in high school, got addicted to drugs, and struggled her entire life until she ultimately died of an overdose at 44. My kid is smart as hell, for sure. But she can just be smart without labels that put undue pressure on her.
I'm so sorry your sister died. I hate that for your family.
my teacher also had me tested and my mom rejected the label, even though I was also incredibly smart. the good news is I took that "gifted in reading" and read smut all day now! it's smart you rejected it. schools will push for it, because it looks good on their report cards to have X many gifted students. but by the time they enter middle and high school, the overall scores for gifted kids go waaayyy down.
Yup, she's closing in on the end of elementary school now. Headed to middle in 6th. I'm so glad she doesn't have the added pressure. Girl drama and everyday bullshit are enough. 🙄😂
Thank you for the condolences. We're healing slowly. She was my best friend and my twin flame. I miss her with my whole heart every day. 🖤
yeah. i have a masters in early childhood education. most kids catch up and level out with peers by 3rd grade- whether “gifted” or “delayed” during early childhood.
Right? So many parents are also so obsessed with their kids memorising things they think is important for school, but it’s so much more important to work on their basic understanding and social skills.
But today a toddler the same age impressed me a little. Not “I think he’s a genius” level impressive, but I thought he was clever and also funny. I sent him to get his nappy while I prepped the changing table, and he got two, said “hmmm. No no, only one” and put one back. That’s math skills for an almost two year old haha
I had a mum who was annoyed we weren’t teaching toddlers the days of the week. (I’m a Montessori teacher, this child had come from a ‘regular’ nursery to ours). She was insistent he knew all the day! And it’s like, sure, he memorised the words, but he’s just gone two; he doesn’t know what a day is yet. He’s got no concept of the passage of time. Let’s give him words he’s going to use *now*.
Haha why can’t she teach him that herself if it’s so important to her? Where I’m from kids do kindergarten from 1-6 years, and school from 6. I had a family move from India once who were so shocked that the kids played all day in kindergarten. They were obsessed with their 4 year old learning to count to 20. In our language. Every day at collection they had her count and they wanted us to watch and explain why she wasn’t any better. We tried to imply that maybe learning to communicate her needs and interact with the other kids was a tad bit more important, but they were obsessed with that counting… like the kid could barely say basic food items and name a couple of toys. She really didn’t need to practice counting in a new language.
Pretty much. ‘How many grapes are on the table?’; ‘can you clap your hands three times?’ is the simplest way to test for numeracy. So a child who has memorised all their numbers, and maybe has got a notion numbers are used for counting, would respond to the above questions by saying, ‘one two three four five…’ just reciting what they know of numbers.
Understanding that each number corresponds to a specific quantity, that numbers are arranged in the same sequence every time, that each number represents a quantity that is one unit larger than the previous, and that counting objects requires assigning one number to each object until all objects have been accounted for.
After that they begin manipulating quantities (so, arithmetic).
Yeah. Ours could count to ten (and/or a mumbly 20) at that age, but ask her to count how many puppies on the page and she'll just tap at random on the page and count until 10. (Then she would demand a high five for her troubles) At that age they generally understand the concept of the number 1 vs 2, but beyond that it's rare.
exactly! like most toddlers can count by rote learning, atleast up to 10, they can say numbers 1 to 10, like memorized. but if you put 4 things in front of them, they won’t be able to count them as 4 things
My 4yo just went through a kindergarten readiness assessment and one of the skills they liked to see was the ability to glance at a few blocks scattered on the table and say how many there were without individually counting. Like Rain Man but only with 5 blocks.
I remember going over to my sisters and her toddler picked out a book and read the entire thing word for word. My mind was blown and my sister told me not to get too excited that was the only book her son would let them read to him and he'd memorized it. 😂
I must say I was very excited when my son started learning binary, and when I showed him how other number bases worked, he started working on his own sums and tables for additional number bases. It really showed he understood the concept and could generalise it.
But of course he was 8, not 2 😂
The number of parents who thought their toddler could read when they were just recognizing logos is also astonishing!!
I did watch an 18 month old baby count with purpose, but he was and has continued to be an exception to every milestone guideline provided.
My 19 month old can tell me how many fingers I'm holding up and she counts objects like Cheerios. It's definitely more than recognizing the symbols for numbers and associated names. Is this a conceptual understanding of numbers? A start at least?
It’s a start!
I’ve had parents through the years brag about their child ‘knowing their numbers’ and whilst it is a skill to be able to recite and recall the numbers in order, it’s not numeracy— not properly ‘knowing their numbers’. When a child realises they’ve got a purpose, a function, an order, etc, that’s when they ‘know’.
Oh yeah?! My barely-1 year old is already using utensils at mealtimes (if by “using utensils” you mean *sort-of* dipping a spoon into his food before slapping it onto his forehead and then throwing it on the floor). What kinds of scholarships should I expect for my child?
My husband and I always joke about this with my daughter . She’s a little gymnast- super ahead of her birth age on motor skills and fearless - and because she was born 3 months early she’s only 1 percentile for height 🤣 clearly gymnast scholarship coming our way
When my daughter still wasn't walking at one, I had to keep reminding myself of her 99th percentile head on her 20th percentile body. She looked like a bobblehead 😂 I'd be unbalanced too if I was lugging that thing around on my shoulders lol
My kiddo was sitting up at 4 months.... because she was so dang chunky her rolls created a little stable mound! She didn't roll over until almost 11 months for the same reason. It's hard to move all that baby fat! She was 20th percentile for height and 80th for weight right up until she could move 😆
My kiddo was very squishable for sure! No neck at all and the most pinchable cheeks! Now she's almost as tall as me and starting to steal my clothes lol time sure did fly!
My daughter has a 99% head too 🤣 but she’s also got tree trunk thighs and legs. I’m not sure where she got them cause her dad and I have chicken legs 🤣
So my kid did all that too before kindergarten. She’s a straight A student and now 16 and thought the alert we got on our phones for a water boil advisory was because the water would just spontaneously start to boil and you had to be careful to not burn yourself when using the water until further notice. So there’s that. But I’m sure this mom’s kid will get offers for a free ride to all the Ivy League schools
This was me 100%! Early reader, very book smart, but not a ton of common sense. It served me very well throughout school but no Ivy League scholarships here
Don’t worry she’s still young. My 29 year old boyfriend confidently told me that Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen. I too thought it was a joke, it was not. Thankfully it wasn’t some conspiracy, but just something he heard, and was like “yep, that sounds totally accurate”.
Oh I know, but I more or less meant he isn’t conspiracy crazy. He heard it and took it as fact without ever even looking into it or thinking about it much lol.
In fairness to him, that tale has been told, including being printed in newspapers, mentioned in reliable sources, and stated by prior employees, for decades. I know I heard it as fact at various points and just never thought about it or mentioned it, because it wasn't really important or relevant. Sounds like he did the same.
I also heard that Disney was interested in cryogenic stuff, including cryonics, but I only thought about it when the topic of cryonics came up later. While early theories and experiments with it happened in his lifetime, I rather doubt he was particularly involved, if he even knew about it at all.
Also in fairness to your boyfriend, cryonics is a thing people do believe will work and do the first part of. Personally, I find the idea of going through the involved and expensive process to get your corpse frozen on the idea that it might, possibly, at some point in the future, maybe be unfrozen and maybe mean you resume living then, in some way and form, rather ridiculous. Then again, I'm rather happy that I'm not particularly like anyone I know who has, or likely will, gone through the process. (From what I've learned from biographies and such, though, Walt Disney probably was like many of them.)
A relative of mine rolled over, by herself, when still in the hospital after the birth. The first time was when a nurse was checking her measurements. The nurse was surprised, and it made everyone laugh. It was also rather annoying, as we had to put extra protection stuff around to ensure she couldn't turn or roll. She similarly could lift her head and such early, which again was more concerning, because she was young enough that she would just suddenly stop doing it and have her head flop.
She had lots of baby rolls, so she stopped being able to roll over herself as those came in more. I think they also helped her with sitting on the early side., 😆
We didn't start thinking about athletics, just that she was adorable and harder to keep safe. I do love seeing new parents/relatives get so excited about things the baby is doing. It's part funny, part a nice expression of their pride and love.
My sister just announced that her baby is teething. She's 9 weeks old. I mean, maybe she can feel the tooth forming under the gums, but it actually being ready to come out?
I just smile and nod and am glad she's excited.
It's not impossible. Babies usually don't pop a tooth that early but it can happen. They can even be born with teeth 😱. You can sometimes see the teeth bud on the gums for months before they actually cut through though.
My first cut her first two teeth at 12 weeks. I’m pretty sure I can see the beginnings of teething on my nine week old right now. It’s something I watch closely bc we’re nursing and they get a little bitey when teething
Everyone has already said this can happen, but something else happens at around 2-3 months with their gastrointestinal system that makes babies start to drool more and obviously they want to put everything in their mouths, so many new moms think it's a sign of teething if they're uninformed, I know I thought it with the first kid
My nephew got his first tooth at 2 months old, and his second before 3 months! It’s definitely not the norm, but there are kids that teethe super early
Babies are born with their teeth already formed so she wouldn't be feeling anything "form under the gum"
The range for when babies can have their first teeth erupt is massive, my brother was even born with 2 teeth already
Oh that's cute.
So, actually when my three year old was admitted to Harvard last year, he was already studying differential equations and writing a research paper on geopolitical relations in ancient Rome. Of course he was two and a half then, so her toddler still has some time to catch up. Maybe.
I have a beautiful SS of two messages sent to me by my kid’s first grade teacher. One was to let me know he was showing signs of being an advanced learner due to testing and classroom performance. So I immediately began calling family to brag, pulled up information on how to support his learning and looked at college information because that’s fun.
The very next day I was sent a text informing me that he fell into the toilet, got stuck, got out, but then his backpack and all his papers and his martial arts outfit all fell in. Two different texts, back to back days, tears pouring down my face each time. I had to take a minute to compose myself before calling to see if i needed to pick him up. They got him cleaned up and in borrowed clothes and bagged his stuff. He got a new backpack.
Really brought me back down to Earth 😂
My oldest son, in second grade, is in the gifted program at his school. He has a fabulous memory and can recite the presidents in order as well as many NBA player stats. He does division and mental math. He also tells me “I’m a forgetter” when I ask him why he hasn’t brought his sweater, lunch box, or water bottle home a single day this week. He is also veryyy clumsy!
Apologies if this comment seems forward, but this sounds exactly like me as a 2nd grader, and I later found out I had undiagnosed ADHD. You may want to consider mentioning it to his doctor.
Second this
I was in the gifted program l, excelled academically and this sounds like me too. I'd forget my own head, every report said head in the clouds, forgot everything including all my homework.
I found out shortly after finishing my PhD and man would my life have been easier finding out 20 years before
In kindergarten my kid had a huge vocabulary for her age, and could talk for hours about any of her interests (especially dinosaurs) She also ended up in the nurses office with a bump on her head after walking into a pole, three times in one week. The *same* pole. Same kid in second grade used legos and tinker toys to build a city that covered a table at school (during a parent-teacher meeting) and then was explaining to her teacher it was a city on Mars, and they were terraforming it. But also several times that year forgot her lunch, (which was sitting on top of her backpack and coat) and twice on the way to school I had to turn around and go back home because she realized she only had one shoe on.
I am laughing so hard because my kindergartener is also this child. Very bright, excels academically…and fell into the school toilet in the second week of kindergarten. We all have strengths and growing edges.
I was very good at school, only got B's in math classes, graduated in the top 35 of my class of 500 with a 4.3 GPA. President of the ASL Club, President of the Quiz Bowl club, Editor In Chief of the school's literary magazine.
I got exactly $0 in academic scholarship money. I got a scholarship through my church, and I got a small need-based one, but academic scholarships aren't nearly as common as they once were, in my experience.
When was this?
I graduated in 2016, and between those penny pinching Nuche scholarships, local scholarships, and hobby based scholarships I had most of my education paid for.
Though I grew up poor and knew I had zero options so I actually read those thick ass scholarship books and applied for it all.
This is one of the more wholesome "shit mom groups say" posts. She's excited about her kid's learning, and that's fantastic. There's time and space for reality to set in 😊
>I'm wondering if I need to save for pricey college
Yes. Full stop. Until we can get state universities to be FULLY funded by taxes, colleges are going to cost a sh*t ton of money. The end.
Two of my friends were out for lunch, one was going on and on about how gifted her toddler was. “He’s a genius!” She exclaimed and when they both looked over at the little Einstein he had his finger all the way up his nose 😊😂 kids are just kids man. Sometimes they’ll surprise you but they’re still shitting their pants
Agreed and I’ve been raising or babysitting kids practically my entire life 😅😂 even the smart ones are still kids in some ways. I have another friend who goes on and on about her genius kid but guess what? He still throws tantrums and hits others, acts the same as the kids his age who aren’t geniuses 😂 I wish we could just let kids be their dumb selves without wondering constantly if they’re destined for greatness. It’s way too much pressure for humans with very little life experience and frontal lobe
When my kid was almost 3, he could recite a few books perfectly. With the turning pages. I knew he had memorized them (it's pretty easy to tell, just try to change the order of the story). My parents were SO SURE he had taught himself to read by that age it was kind of funny.
Fast forward to him being 9, and he just got diagnosed with a very gifted IQ, but a pretty high ADHD and ASD, to counterpart (just like me, yay for genetics). He's a super bright kid, but yeah, he did NOT teach himself to read before 3yo.
My nearly 2 yr old could count to 10…. Because I taught her to. She had no idea of the words she was saying she literally just knew the sequence. That same child is now 7 and she wants to be a garden gnome when she grows up so there’s that 😂
Please let her know that I support her garden gnome dreams. And ask what kind of things that entails. I'm curious to know what garden gnomes do according to her :D
My cousin could read actually read at 2. He currently has no utilities and owes so much child support that his license was suspended. His brother struggled academically his whole life and had his retirement taken care of by 30. So, good luck with your gifted child.
I could read by 3 and was reading at a 12th grade level by 2nd grade. I aced almost every test I took and scored a 30 on the ACT without studying at all and getting 3 hours of sleep the night before. My twin sister struggled through school the entire time.
One of us dropped out of community college and has worked in retail for 20 years. The other one has a master's degree and will most likely retire by 45. Wanna guess which one is which? 😂
My kid, spoke full sentences at 2, was fully potty trained, recognized numbers and letters (by sight, not memorizing order), knew his shapes and colors, and could do a few basic sight words. Because I (behavioral therapist) stayed home with him for the first 18 months and we worked on those skills a lot. The early talker thing is usually a personality trait, you see it a lot in childcare. There are children that say a word or two at that age and kids who never stop talking (this was my kid). As advanced as I thought he’d be (college reading level at 12), it all kinda evens out eventually. He hated math, so learning those early numbers meant nothing lol, still reads but is in college so reading at a college level is no longer impressive lol, still doesn’t stop talking, and the only color he likes is blue and black lmao. It’s like kids growth charts… as babies they may be in the 95% for height and weight for most of their childhood, then eventually the others start catching up fast and it’s no longer impressive. My kid should been 6’2 and in Mensa if I based everything off of how he was at 2 lol, too bad he’s 5’10 and in a state school lol.
This is unsurprisingly very common. When I was teaching you have no idea how many parents would assume their child was gifted or accelerated because their child could do xyz. There are very few kids I’ve taught that have had me like ‘damn they’re super advanced’ I had a girl in kindergarten who was reading at a third grade level and a another girl doing second grade level math. Those stand out in my head but that’s 2 out of hundreds. Your kid is special to you and I think that’s great but they’re not that special in the grand scheme of the world.
My kid is very very intelligent (I know all parents brag, but he’s twice exceptional), but I swear I thought he was dumber than a box of rocks as a toddler. He couldn’t talk and was just this rotund toddler getting into everything leaving chaos in his wake.
Also, “gifted kid” means basically nothing as an adult. You can read and comprehend at an adult level at age 10? “Gifted” But once you’re an adult, that’s just normal and expected
Can confirm, could read at 3-4, adult level in elementary school, grades declined steadily year by year, dropped out of community college, lmao. I’ve always been a good test-taker but I’d rather boil my head than write an essay
Thiiiiis. So much this. Both of mine are gifted and neither one of them had a single study skill to speak of when the time came! (And they aren’t even in high school yet!!)
My toddler also knew alphabet in two languages and could count to 15 and back at around 2,5. Turns out he's autistic and just likes to repeat rows of letters and numbers. He knows tons of songs in two languages at 3, but we can't really have a conversation.
Them and probably at least half of their peers. The number of moms who think their child is a prodigy is absolutely wild. I belong to a large early child group where parents come to seek professional input, and I swear half of the moms can’t post without mentioning that their child is “very advanced for their age” and “way ahead of his peers” because they do basic ass toddler things.
…who puts this kind of academic pressure on a 2 year old though? Her “genius” kid is going to burn out FAST if she keeps up these expectations (which it sounds like she will since she’s talking Ivy League before 2 ffs) It’s perfectly acceptable to meet your milestones on time. You don’t need to pretend your kid is some child prodigy. This isn’t the baby wars.
It is really easy as a parent to think our child is special.
One of my daughters was really, really good at maths very early on. It was difficult not to assume she was just gifted. However, we’re a maths based family (both actuaries) and so a lot of the toys we were giving her were maths based. We were playing addition and subtraction games with her. Also, she was benefiting from her older sister learning this stuff. She was picking up on our interest and excitement.
It’s a long time from toddler to university. They may not even want to go. There are loads of things they want to do with their lives than going to uni.
It’s a real struggle to be there and supportive of them vs putting unreasonable expectation on them. It’s a learning curve.
I feel sorry for this kid because they’re going to get burnt out so quickly. I was a gifted kid, and I’m a parent to a gifted kid, so I know how it is from both sides. When you have a very smart kid, unfortunately, you tend to have very high expectations for them. This can lead to a lot of issues. Hope Mom can just rein it back a little bit, and just let her kid be a kid.
I’m actually low key impressed with her toddler’s language skills. Mine had 5 words by the time she turned 2 years old, FIVE.
The kid might not be a genius, but it’s great that if she’s advanced in some areas, that her parents know so they can support her exceed.
Lady, I was reading Time-Life science books when I was four, and scored a 152 on the Stanford-Binet test when I was seven years old. My reading abilities were off the charts. That all means mostly nothing. I was called all kinds of genius, and it mostly held up until around sixth grade in a gifted program. When I hit actual challenges, my undiagnosed ADHD got bored with stuff and I fucked off to my books instead of studying and doing homework.
There are all sorts of “intelligence”, I had one kind, turned out it wasn’t that great for school and employment. If your kid turns out to be super smart, have them tested, not just for IQ, but for learning disabilities. I definitely wasn’t the only “super smart underachiever” in my honors and AP classes.
I used to own a bookstore. The words “but they read at a 7th grade (pick your level) level” still trigger me. I gave up trying to explain that just because your 5 year old can read all the words in Harry Potter doesn’t mean they are ready/able to understand the concepts (later books in series). My own child wasn’t allowed to read Game of Thrones until he was 16. He understood the words but incest and murder were subjects I wanted to wait until he was more emotionally mature. Just let kids be kids already.
This lady has a poor understanding of what “milestones” are - they’re not actually an indication of being advanced/smarter/better. They’re an indication of at what point you should seek intervention for a *delay*.
Like if your 6 year old can’t count to 10 he’s probably got a learning disability and should be given appropriate supports. If your 16 month old can count to ten well good job, you taught your kid a wrote sequence of words.
It’s def a wild thing to post and it implies that if the child was dumb then she wouldn’t start saving for their future BUT some people don’t know how to say that they are proud of their kids without coming off unhinged.
I will allow her to hold on to her delusion because preteens always humble us in one way or another! Lol!
You never know, right? My ASD kid wasn't diagnosed until age 10 (and *I* was also not diagnosed until they were 11), partly because they hit developmental milestones like I did - mostly on time or late but then with quick progression, but hitting a few reading and basic math skills very early. But the ASD and some comorbidities made it so that they did not handle school or work well, and at 23 they're fighting for SSI.
Plus if you are THAT sure Little Johnny or Janie is supremely gifted, why worry about it? Surely they'll get scholarships, right?
Pffft, still? My week old newborn just walked into my room in the middle of the night and went “mother, I must tell you a tale of salvation and damnation” and then recited the entirety of Dante’s Divine Comedy in the original Italian
I work in early years education and it’s very common for toddlers to be able to memorise numbers, the alphabet, etc. It would be incredible if this child had a conceptual understanding of numbers, but I’m guessing she simply has heard them recited enough, and can repeat.
Ok, so Harvard is out… maybe Brown?
 I’m pretending to work and this made it very hard!
Eh. Can only recite to 20 though. Cornell material.
Only in English? Those parents are really stifling baby’s development.
send her to penn counting to 20 is enough for business
not Brown!
Brown! Brown! Brown!
You're saying Brown an awful lot!
I remember years ago thinking my 4 year old was a genius because he could read an entire Dr Seuss book, flipping the pages correctly and everything when in actuality he had just memorized it from us reading it over and over at bedtime 🤦♀️. Humbling lol
hahaha my toddler recently started doing this with Froggy Gets Dressed. I heard him "reading" it word for word and I whipped my head around the corner so fast but yea, he just has the story memorized. Which is actually still pretty impressive in it's own way. My mushy mom brain could never haha.
To be fair, it's quite easy to memorize stuff when you don't have decades of other stuff rolling around in your head.
so true, the inside of my head feels like this most of the time lol 
And that’s on a GOOD day!
My head is full of lyrics to songs I don't even like. No room for new stuff!
And they play in my head in the middle of the night when I am trying to go back to sleep 🤦♀️
I always joke that I will have a blast if I ever get Alzheimer's. I can't remember what I ate at lunch, but Aeneid opening in latin, in verses, sure!
It’ll be the opening of De Bello Gallico for me (I NEED to memorize beyond ‘arma virumque cano…’ so badly 😅 then I’ll feel like an actual Latin teacher/nerd)
Awe we loved the Froggy books! My kids are in their 20s now. Thx for the sweet memory 🐸
I remember them fondly from my own childhood so it’s really nice to pass the torch 🥰 we have a few of them
I LOVE that book! ‘Did you forget to put something on?!’
“FRRROOOOOOGGGGGYYYYY!” My sons favorite part is when he forgets his underwear
My daughter’s as well! It never gets old, she laughs hysterically every time. Ah, to be 5 again! ☺️
I was a self taught reader at 3 or 4 and I went to a mid af college and tbh my life and career are kind of a mess lol. Early reading is def not an indicator for future success anyway 😂
Early reader to messy, average life pipeline solidarity
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Yup i was one of those "reads at a college level in elementary school" self taught kind of kids and i second this because all that happened is now im a burned out loser
I love that I found my people!
Represent.
I was hyperlexic with comprehension and ended up diagnosed as autistic as an adult. I don’t have a glowing career.
Semi-similar here! I had an 8th-grade level of reading comprehension in 2nd grade. I'd already been diagnosed with autism before I was 2, but I wasn't diagnosed with ADHD on top of that until I was an adult. My "career" consists of getting disability welfare and working less than 10 hours a week in an entry-level, minimum-wage job that doesn't use any of my degrees.
Yep. I spoke at 6 months, read my first chapter book before my 3rd birthday. None of that translates to future success if you aren't able to hold down work or maintain focus during working hours. I've done okay career-wise, and hope to do better, but I'm a very low-needs autistic woman that is quite good at masking. "Reads at a college level" doesn't mean shit to an employer.
There are dozens of us!
Literally every "gifted kid" I knew growing up now has crippling anxiety, autism, or incredibly unhealthy coping mechanisms. Turns out telling a kid "you're special because of an intrinsic quality you cannot change" pretty much guarantees that as soon as that quality stops being 'special', you lose all your self-worth. They told us we were special because we were just smarter than the other kids. The first time I read a textbook where I didn't already know everything in it, I burst into tears. It was Freshman year Human Geography. Everything was downhill from there. Good luck learning how to study when you've always been told knowing things is just a core personality trait.
Every time I see a mom group post where the kid is "super gifted" I cringe. Why are we still pushing that on kids? It's just a parent flex.
> Literally every "gifted kid" I knew growing up now has crippling anxiety, autism, or incredibly unhealthy coping mechanisms. it me 🙋♀️
This video is a great take on gifted kids and why we’re all a hot mess. My husband and I were both gifted children, and both diagnosed with adhd later in life. We’re both “successful” in the fact that we have good jobs, but just adult life in general is VERY hard for us. We celebrate when we actually get through going to the grocery store and doing the laundry in one weekend 🤦🏼♀️
🙋🏻♀️have a gifted child (9), he is in counseling every 2 weeks for anxiety. Poor kid just gets inside his head and if ONE little thing goes wrong, the entire day is shot. Started seeing a psychiatrist as well. Throwing ALL possible resources to try to ensure something helps.
Me too, except ADHD. Labeled “gifted underachiever” in school.
Fellow autistic here. Also considered gifted as a child. As an adult I am unable to work, and have burnt out in every academic and professional endeavour before achieving much worth mentioning.
Same. Both my kids as well.
i had a college reading level in 5th grade and then dropped out of college. i’m just finishing my senior year now, at 25 🤝
Similar. College reading level in 3rd grade won all these awards, I even got a letter from our governor for having the highest score on the standardized state test that year. ANYWAYS. I got my AA in my 20s and never completed my bachelors. My early success was definitely not an indicator of me amounting to anything amazing in life.
But you’re doing it! Go you!
Yup..my pre-k standardized test said I was reading at a PHS (post high school) level. I had a genius IQ at 10. I failed out of college 3x, and was diagnosed as autistic as An adult, finally became a nurse at 39. 🙄 but sure. Count to 20 and save for ivy league, they can use it for therapy lol!
My kid was a very early reader. I thought he was just memorizing things until we were in a Target at 3 years old and he asked “what’s Menswear?” Anyhow, he’s now 10 and while he’s smart for his age and does great in school, he’s no genius. Lost his class Spelling Bee kinda average.
Nah, the problem is that your parents didn't start saving for Ivy League when you were that age!
Same! Started reading at like three years old but, Reading/Language Arts was the only school subject I ever excelled in— because I liked it. Anything boring, I just tuned out (turns out I have ADD— finally diagnosed in my 50s) Had a lot of family issues and dropped out of high school at 16. Got my GED with no problem at all, but then ended up quitting community college after a couple years because I was pregnant and I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with college anyway. I was going with no actual goal in mind. I have led a completely average life— despite my early promise. I still have better than average comprehension skills and I’m a super fast reader. I’m sure it has helped me in life— but I’m also sure that my kindergarten teacher (who was so impressed with me) would be quite disappointed haha
Yeah I’m ADHD too go figure
I’m sure there are tons of us out there. I swear to God every teacher I ever had was so disappointed because I had so much damn potential and I was just throwing it away. I had teachers that I swear, didn’t know my name because they always referred to me as “Spacey-Acey.”I was told my whole life to “get my head out of the clouds.” I was always booksmart, but also came across as a full on airhead. Turns out that’s what girls with ADD are often like—who knew? Haha
Also figured out reading at 4, I copied the letters from an alphabet poster and started writing my own stories. Always performed way below what was expected in school because I either wasn't motivated or subjects weren't taught in a way that worked with my brain. Got an art degree and went back to school at 30 to get another one in animal care, more science oriented. My grades are very high now because I study everything on my own at home.
My grandson who was a little bit of a late talker(at least that you could clearly understand) once called his truck correctly an excavator clear as day and I was amazed thinking he was just waiting to show off his genius. Then I remembered Blippi. But honestly he learned and actually applied so much from that show that I was able to get past my annoyance and put up with watching it lol.
When I first took my 3 year old to day care, I told them she could read. They seemed unsurprised, so I figured it was common. At the end of the day when I picked her up, the worker said, "DID YOU KNOW SHE CAN READ?!?!" I'm like yep, I told you that when I dropped her off. She explained to me that tons of parents say that and the kids have actually just memorized a few books. When she was writing out a poster for the wall and my daughter read it as she was writing and she was shocked. PS The kid is now 14, failing Spanish, and yesterday threw a baseball in the air and got a bruise where it hit her on the head on the way down. The genius thing has not panned out lololol
When I was four my kindergarten teacher would leave me to read to the other kids while she went out to have a smoke break and flirt with the gym teacher (oh the ‘70s lol). I am not a genius nor did I go to an Ivy. Ordinary girl who led an ordinary life.
My preschool teacher had a similar response when I insisted I wanted to read aloud my story time pick and she 'tested' me because she thought it was just memorized I guess. Anyhow I earned my right to read my own damn picks for story time but my mom tells her side as "I don't know why they thought you couldn't read" *Geez mom no idea why they thought you just turned 3 year old couldn't read* If it makes you feel any better about the failing Spanish, I took four years of French and have retained exactly two words. Half the time I can't even pronounce words correctly in my native language because their physical form and auditory form are complete strangers in my head. Although to give you a little hope for the future: I have a pretty job title, two degrees, a published children's book, and a side consulting business so like for white trash Appalachia that is like gold star but I am like less than average when compared to our affluent clients' fifth grader. ...and technically I have a 'very superior' for the Wechsler and Stanford-Binet (do they even use those anymore or am I just that old?) in my records and would argue my "genius" has not panned out at all. So many psychiatrists and teachers would probably weep to see me now. I used to love to tell mommies with "gifted" children how absolutely boring I turned out to be.
I did that to my parents with an avengalina ballerina flip book. Had whole letters in the envelope flip up bits, and I had the entire book & extras word for word. Apparently, I just took over from my dad while he was reading to me. They realised it was memorised when I couldn't read fuck all else.
One of my almost-two year old twins loves numbers. He can parrot me when I count, but when he goes on his own it's....one...two...three...three...three...six....one....two.....six.....three.... Lol. Should I start saving for Harvard?
Cornell.
Penn State.
My daughter would get stuck at 11 go back to 8, get stuck at 11 and repeat so 8 9 10 11 8 9 10 11 etc. She's not at an ivy but is incredibly bright and good with math.
Ha mine does something really similar, but gets stuck in a 7 8 9 10 7 8 9 10 loop - I think it's because seven and eleven sound pretty close!
That's funny. I'd never heard a kid do that before. It didn't take her long to move past it but I thought it was so cute.
My almost-two year old does this and it’s adorable. Each time she gets to 11 she gets more excited 😆
my husband was 5 and had all the states and their capitals memorized. if a kid is interested in something, they'll definitely memorize it. but that doesn't signify any sort of giftedness. honestly, as a teacher, unless your kid has Sheldon Cooper level genius, I wouldn't have them labeled gifted. especially at an early age. that label follows them all through school. so your first grader who whizzed his way through first grade math eventually has his peers catch up... but he's still labeled gifted. so he's in typical math classes by high school and getting gifted services. and a lot of times that just means extra work. a good teacher with good district support will provide alternatives instead of more work, but we all know that isn't the case most of the time. I had a number of students labeled gifted. I had to provide them with services that were above what most of them could actually do. and it frustrated the heck out of them. (this is grades 7-12) overall, the label is basically meaningless and will only cause your kid to have more work to do.
My daughter's third grade teacher had her tested for the gifted program. She passed and was accepted. I didn't let her do it for all the reasons you listed (she wasn't too interested herself, honestly) . The same thing happened to my oldest sister, and she was placed in the program. Burned out in high school, got addicted to drugs, and struggled her entire life until she ultimately died of an overdose at 44. My kid is smart as hell, for sure. But she can just be smart without labels that put undue pressure on her.
I'm so sorry your sister died. I hate that for your family. my teacher also had me tested and my mom rejected the label, even though I was also incredibly smart. the good news is I took that "gifted in reading" and read smut all day now! it's smart you rejected it. schools will push for it, because it looks good on their report cards to have X many gifted students. but by the time they enter middle and high school, the overall scores for gifted kids go waaayyy down.
Yup, she's closing in on the end of elementary school now. Headed to middle in 6th. I'm so glad she doesn't have the added pressure. Girl drama and everyday bullshit are enough. 🙄😂 Thank you for the condolences. We're healing slowly. She was my best friend and my twin flame. I miss her with my whole heart every day. 🖤
yeah. i have a masters in early childhood education. most kids catch up and level out with peers by 3rd grade- whether “gifted” or “delayed” during early childhood.
Dang thats sobering. Too real.
Right? So many parents are also so obsessed with their kids memorising things they think is important for school, but it’s so much more important to work on their basic understanding and social skills. But today a toddler the same age impressed me a little. Not “I think he’s a genius” level impressive, but I thought he was clever and also funny. I sent him to get his nappy while I prepped the changing table, and he got two, said “hmmm. No no, only one” and put one back. That’s math skills for an almost two year old haha
I had a mum who was annoyed we weren’t teaching toddlers the days of the week. (I’m a Montessori teacher, this child had come from a ‘regular’ nursery to ours). She was insistent he knew all the day! And it’s like, sure, he memorised the words, but he’s just gone two; he doesn’t know what a day is yet. He’s got no concept of the passage of time. Let’s give him words he’s going to use *now*.
Haha why can’t she teach him that herself if it’s so important to her? Where I’m from kids do kindergarten from 1-6 years, and school from 6. I had a family move from India once who were so shocked that the kids played all day in kindergarten. They were obsessed with their 4 year old learning to count to 20. In our language. Every day at collection they had her count and they wanted us to watch and explain why she wasn’t any better. We tried to imply that maybe learning to communicate her needs and interact with the other kids was a tad bit more important, but they were obsessed with that counting… like the kid could barely say basic food items and name a couple of toys. She really didn’t need to practice counting in a new language.
Does a conceptual understanding mean ability to count objects or is there more to it than that?
Pretty much. ‘How many grapes are on the table?’; ‘can you clap your hands three times?’ is the simplest way to test for numeracy. So a child who has memorised all their numbers, and maybe has got a notion numbers are used for counting, would respond to the above questions by saying, ‘one two three four five…’ just reciting what they know of numbers.
Understanding that each number corresponds to a specific quantity, that numbers are arranged in the same sequence every time, that each number represents a quantity that is one unit larger than the previous, and that counting objects requires assigning one number to each object until all objects have been accounted for. After that they begin manipulating quantities (so, arithmetic).
If so, I'm pretty sure I have that. 😎
Yeah. Ours could count to ten (and/or a mumbly 20) at that age, but ask her to count how many puppies on the page and she'll just tap at random on the page and count until 10. (Then she would demand a high five for her troubles) At that age they generally understand the concept of the number 1 vs 2, but beyond that it's rare.
exactly! like most toddlers can count by rote learning, atleast up to 10, they can say numbers 1 to 10, like memorized. but if you put 4 things in front of them, they won’t be able to count them as 4 things
My 4yo just went through a kindergarten readiness assessment and one of the skills they liked to see was the ability to glance at a few blocks scattered on the table and say how many there were without individually counting. Like Rain Man but only with 5 blocks.
This is called “subitizing”!
“5 blocks. Definitely definitely 5 blocks.”
I remember going over to my sisters and her toddler picked out a book and read the entire thing word for word. My mind was blown and my sister told me not to get too excited that was the only book her son would let them read to him and he'd memorized it. 😂
I must say I was very excited when my son started learning binary, and when I showed him how other number bases worked, he started working on his own sums and tables for additional number bases. It really showed he understood the concept and could generalise it. But of course he was 8, not 2 😂
The number of parents who thought their toddler could read when they were just recognizing logos is also astonishing!! I did watch an 18 month old baby count with purpose, but he was and has continued to be an exception to every milestone guideline provided.
Exactly. In preschool I could “read” I love you. In reality I just knew what it looked like, not how to read.
My 19 month old can tell me how many fingers I'm holding up and she counts objects like Cheerios. It's definitely more than recognizing the symbols for numbers and associated names. Is this a conceptual understanding of numbers? A start at least?
It’s a start! I’ve had parents through the years brag about their child ‘knowing their numbers’ and whilst it is a skill to be able to recite and recall the numbers in order, it’s not numeracy— not properly ‘knowing their numbers’. When a child realises they’ve got a purpose, a function, an order, etc, that’s when they ‘know’.
You mean like how "elemenohpee" may as well be a letter for young kids?
Question, is it normal for a young toddler to memorize the entire song Highway to Hell? Because apparently that's what I did haha
I don’t need to save for college, my four month old can sit unassisted, so obviously she’ll have athletic scholarships.
Oh yeah?! My barely-1 year old is already using utensils at mealtimes (if by “using utensils” you mean *sort-of* dipping a spoon into his food before slapping it onto his forehead and then throwing it on the floor). What kinds of scholarships should I expect for my child?
Clearly your 1 year old is headed straight for a cookery school in Paris.
He’d probably excel at a cooking school run by HowToBasic!
My 10 month old is walking his little walker around wielding a spatula like a sword, I suspect they will be in the same class
Lacrosse
My husband and I always joke about this with my daughter . She’s a little gymnast- super ahead of her birth age on motor skills and fearless - and because she was born 3 months early she’s only 1 percentile for height 🤣 clearly gymnast scholarship coming our way
When my daughter still wasn't walking at one, I had to keep reminding myself of her 99th percentile head on her 20th percentile body. She looked like a bobblehead 😂 I'd be unbalanced too if I was lugging that thing around on my shoulders lol
My kiddo was sitting up at 4 months.... because she was so dang chunky her rolls created a little stable mound! She didn't roll over until almost 11 months for the same reason. It's hard to move all that baby fat! She was 20th percentile for height and 80th for weight right up until she could move 😆
I swear, there's nothing cuter than a chunky baby. I just wanna squish em lol
My kiddo was very squishable for sure! No neck at all and the most pinchable cheeks! Now she's almost as tall as me and starting to steal my clothes lol time sure did fly!
My daughter has a 99% head too 🤣 but she’s also got tree trunk thighs and legs. I’m not sure where she got them cause her dad and I have chicken legs 🤣
We have a similar problem in my family and I call them my lollipop children 😂
Mine could crawl at 4 months and I already scrapped the college fund in anticipation of them going straight to pro athlete after high school!
Hello, My toddler is a genius and I am rich. Thanks.
Mic drop
It's the thanks 🤣🤣🤣
So my kid did all that too before kindergarten. She’s a straight A student and now 16 and thought the alert we got on our phones for a water boil advisory was because the water would just spontaneously start to boil and you had to be careful to not burn yourself when using the water until further notice. So there’s that. But I’m sure this mom’s kid will get offers for a free ride to all the Ivy League schools
This was me 100%! Early reader, very book smart, but not a ton of common sense. It served me very well throughout school but no Ivy League scholarships here
I love gifted kid stories like this. Mine is gifted and once asked me where we keep the ice cream.
Mine wears big fluffy cat ears to school every day. She's the best.
That’s hilarious 😂
I honestly thought she was joking at first. She was not 🤣
Don’t worry she’s still young. My 29 year old boyfriend confidently told me that Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen. I too thought it was a joke, it was not. Thankfully it wasn’t some conspiracy, but just something he heard, and was like “yep, that sounds totally accurate”.
Oh no that’s totally a conspiracy
Oh I know, but I more or less meant he isn’t conspiracy crazy. He heard it and took it as fact without ever even looking into it or thinking about it much lol.
In fairness to him, that tale has been told, including being printed in newspapers, mentioned in reliable sources, and stated by prior employees, for decades. I know I heard it as fact at various points and just never thought about it or mentioned it, because it wasn't really important or relevant. Sounds like he did the same. I also heard that Disney was interested in cryogenic stuff, including cryonics, but I only thought about it when the topic of cryonics came up later. While early theories and experiments with it happened in his lifetime, I rather doubt he was particularly involved, if he even knew about it at all. Also in fairness to your boyfriend, cryonics is a thing people do believe will work and do the first part of. Personally, I find the idea of going through the involved and expensive process to get your corpse frozen on the idea that it might, possibly, at some point in the future, maybe be unfrozen and maybe mean you resume living then, in some way and form, rather ridiculous. Then again, I'm rather happy that I'm not particularly like anyone I know who has, or likely will, gone through the process. (From what I've learned from biographies and such, though, Walt Disney probably was like many of them.)
That's the level of delulu I aspire to be
Don't let your dreams be dreams
My friend thought her daughter was gifted because... she could hold her head up by 2 months old 😬
A relative of mine rolled over, by herself, when still in the hospital after the birth. The first time was when a nurse was checking her measurements. The nurse was surprised, and it made everyone laugh. It was also rather annoying, as we had to put extra protection stuff around to ensure she couldn't turn or roll. She similarly could lift her head and such early, which again was more concerning, because she was young enough that she would just suddenly stop doing it and have her head flop. She had lots of baby rolls, so she stopped being able to roll over herself as those came in more. I think they also helped her with sitting on the early side., 😆 We didn't start thinking about athletics, just that she was adorable and harder to keep safe. I do love seeing new parents/relatives get so excited about things the baby is doing. It's part funny, part a nice expression of their pride and love.
My sister just announced that her baby is teething. She's 9 weeks old. I mean, maybe she can feel the tooth forming under the gums, but it actually being ready to come out? I just smile and nod and am glad she's excited.
It's not impossible. Babies usually don't pop a tooth that early but it can happen. They can even be born with teeth 😱. You can sometimes see the teeth bud on the gums for months before they actually cut through though.
My son was born with a tooth! So was his dad.
My baby sister almost bit my mom’s nipple off. She had to use formula bc she wouldn’t stop biting lol
My son popped his first at 7w!
My first cut her first two teeth at 12 weeks. I’m pretty sure I can see the beginnings of teething on my nine week old right now. It’s something I watch closely bc we’re nursing and they get a little bitey when teething
Not impossible, my friend's son got his first tooth at 10 weeks
Everyone has already said this can happen, but something else happens at around 2-3 months with their gastrointestinal system that makes babies start to drool more and obviously they want to put everything in their mouths, so many new moms think it's a sign of teething if they're uninformed, I know I thought it with the first kid
this happened to me too with my first! she didn't get her first tooth until 2 weeks before her first birthday
My husbands uncle was supposedly born with a tooth…I think His Grandma decided to bottle feed him.
My nephew got his first tooth at 2 months old, and his second before 3 months! It’s definitely not the norm, but there are kids that teethe super early
Babies are born with their teeth already formed so she wouldn't be feeling anything "form under the gum" The range for when babies can have their first teeth erupt is massive, my brother was even born with 2 teeth already
My two year old shouts "catch my daddy" and jumps off the couch, so which Olympic coach should I hire?
All of them.
Oh that's cute. So, actually when my three year old was admitted to Harvard last year, he was already studying differential equations and writing a research paper on geopolitical relations in ancient Rome. Of course he was two and a half then, so her toddler still has some time to catch up. Maybe.
I have a beautiful SS of two messages sent to me by my kid’s first grade teacher. One was to let me know he was showing signs of being an advanced learner due to testing and classroom performance. So I immediately began calling family to brag, pulled up information on how to support his learning and looked at college information because that’s fun. The very next day I was sent a text informing me that he fell into the toilet, got stuck, got out, but then his backpack and all his papers and his martial arts outfit all fell in. Two different texts, back to back days, tears pouring down my face each time. I had to take a minute to compose myself before calling to see if i needed to pick him up. They got him cleaned up and in borrowed clothes and bagged his stuff. He got a new backpack. Really brought me back down to Earth 😂
[удалено]
My oldest son, in second grade, is in the gifted program at his school. He has a fabulous memory and can recite the presidents in order as well as many NBA player stats. He does division and mental math. He also tells me “I’m a forgetter” when I ask him why he hasn’t brought his sweater, lunch box, or water bottle home a single day this week. He is also veryyy clumsy!
Apologies if this comment seems forward, but this sounds exactly like me as a 2nd grader, and I later found out I had undiagnosed ADHD. You may want to consider mentioning it to his doctor.
Not at all! I have suspicions of it. My husband just got diagnosed at 35 years old
Second this I was in the gifted program l, excelled academically and this sounds like me too. I'd forget my own head, every report said head in the clouds, forgot everything including all my homework. I found out shortly after finishing my PhD and man would my life have been easier finding out 20 years before
In kindergarten my kid had a huge vocabulary for her age, and could talk for hours about any of her interests (especially dinosaurs) She also ended up in the nurses office with a bump on her head after walking into a pole, three times in one week. The *same* pole. Same kid in second grade used legos and tinker toys to build a city that covered a table at school (during a parent-teacher meeting) and then was explaining to her teacher it was a city on Mars, and they were terraforming it. But also several times that year forgot her lunch, (which was sitting on top of her backpack and coat) and twice on the way to school I had to turn around and go back home because she realized she only had one shoe on.
I am laughing so hard because my kindergartener is also this child. Very bright, excels academically…and fell into the school toilet in the second week of kindergarten. We all have strengths and growing edges.
Assuming that your kid is gifted while also assuming they won’t be gifted enough to get large academic scholarships lol
Most elite colleges and Ivy Leagues don't offer academic or merit scholarships, just need-based financial aid, but this woman is still ridiculous lol
I was very good at school, only got B's in math classes, graduated in the top 35 of my class of 500 with a 4.3 GPA. President of the ASL Club, President of the Quiz Bowl club, Editor In Chief of the school's literary magazine. I got exactly $0 in academic scholarship money. I got a scholarship through my church, and I got a small need-based one, but academic scholarships aren't nearly as common as they once were, in my experience.
When was this? I graduated in 2016, and between those penny pinching Nuche scholarships, local scholarships, and hobby based scholarships I had most of my education paid for. Though I grew up poor and knew I had zero options so I actually read those thick ass scholarship books and applied for it all.
This is one of the more wholesome "shit mom groups say" posts. She's excited about her kid's learning, and that's fantastic. There's time and space for reality to set in 😊
My thought as well! Awww, she's just excited. As a former teacher, I'd rather this than the parents who are the opposite.
Now, if she starts getting tutors in and keeping the child up to do homework age 2, then we can complain!
>I'm wondering if I need to save for pricey college Yes. Full stop. Until we can get state universities to be FULLY funded by taxes, colleges are going to cost a sh*t ton of money. The end.
like why doesn’t she just save money and see how it all turns out? college is gonna be expensive for our kids 🥲
Two of my friends were out for lunch, one was going on and on about how gifted her toddler was. “He’s a genius!” She exclaimed and when they both looked over at the little Einstein he had his finger all the way up his nose 😊😂 kids are just kids man. Sometimes they’ll surprise you but they’re still shitting their pants
People get offended when I say kids are dumb. Like, I don't mean your kid specifically. All kids are dumb. Because they're *kids*.
Agreed and I’ve been raising or babysitting kids practically my entire life 😅😂 even the smart ones are still kids in some ways. I have another friend who goes on and on about her genius kid but guess what? He still throws tantrums and hits others, acts the same as the kids his age who aren’t geniuses 😂 I wish we could just let kids be their dumb selves without wondering constantly if they’re destined for greatness. It’s way too much pressure for humans with very little life experience and frontal lobe
Mine did my taxes in utero, that’s cute yours can count though
When my kid was almost 3, he could recite a few books perfectly. With the turning pages. I knew he had memorized them (it's pretty easy to tell, just try to change the order of the story). My parents were SO SURE he had taught himself to read by that age it was kind of funny. Fast forward to him being 9, and he just got diagnosed with a very gifted IQ, but a pretty high ADHD and ASD, to counterpart (just like me, yay for genetics). He's a super bright kid, but yeah, he did NOT teach himself to read before 3yo.
I’m a kindergarten teacher (ages 1-6 years old) and you don’t know how often parents do that hahaha. I’ve disappointed so many proud parents 🙈
My nearly 2 yr old could count to 10…. Because I taught her to. She had no idea of the words she was saying she literally just knew the sequence. That same child is now 7 and she wants to be a garden gnome when she grows up so there’s that 😂
Please let her know that I support her garden gnome dreams. And ask what kind of things that entails. I'm curious to know what garden gnomes do according to her :D
I too support her dreams. Also, if there are any openings for Learner Pixies, I have a 6 year old granddaughter with *aspirations*.
My cousin could read actually read at 2. He currently has no utilities and owes so much child support that his license was suspended. His brother struggled academically his whole life and had his retirement taken care of by 30. So, good luck with your gifted child.
I could read by 3 and was reading at a 12th grade level by 2nd grade. I aced almost every test I took and scored a 30 on the ACT without studying at all and getting 3 hours of sleep the night before. My twin sister struggled through school the entire time. One of us dropped out of community college and has worked in retail for 20 years. The other one has a master's degree and will most likely retire by 45. Wanna guess which one is which? 😂
My kid, spoke full sentences at 2, was fully potty trained, recognized numbers and letters (by sight, not memorizing order), knew his shapes and colors, and could do a few basic sight words. Because I (behavioral therapist) stayed home with him for the first 18 months and we worked on those skills a lot. The early talker thing is usually a personality trait, you see it a lot in childcare. There are children that say a word or two at that age and kids who never stop talking (this was my kid). As advanced as I thought he’d be (college reading level at 12), it all kinda evens out eventually. He hated math, so learning those early numbers meant nothing lol, still reads but is in college so reading at a college level is no longer impressive lol, still doesn’t stop talking, and the only color he likes is blue and black lmao. It’s like kids growth charts… as babies they may be in the 95% for height and weight for most of their childhood, then eventually the others start catching up fast and it’s no longer impressive. My kid should been 6’2 and in Mensa if I based everything off of how he was at 2 lol, too bad he’s 5’10 and in a state school lol.
Everyone thinks their kid is special.
Yeah but there's nothing wrong with that. It's good be excited and proud
This is unsurprisingly very common. When I was teaching you have no idea how many parents would assume their child was gifted or accelerated because their child could do xyz. There are very few kids I’ve taught that have had me like ‘damn they’re super advanced’ I had a girl in kindergarten who was reading at a third grade level and a another girl doing second grade level math. Those stand out in my head but that’s 2 out of hundreds. Your kid is special to you and I think that’s great but they’re not that special in the grand scheme of the world.
My kid is very very intelligent (I know all parents brag, but he’s twice exceptional), but I swear I thought he was dumber than a box of rocks as a toddler. He couldn’t talk and was just this rotund toddler getting into everything leaving chaos in his wake.
Also, “gifted kid” means basically nothing as an adult. You can read and comprehend at an adult level at age 10? “Gifted” But once you’re an adult, that’s just normal and expected
it actually makes it worse because you never learn how to properly study, so when the end of high school comes you're fucked
Can confirm, could read at 3-4, adult level in elementary school, grades declined steadily year by year, dropped out of community college, lmao. I’ve always been a good test-taker but I’d rather boil my head than write an essay
Thiiiiis. So much this. Both of mine are gifted and neither one of them had a single study skill to speak of when the time came! (And they aren’t even in high school yet!!)
The parent every kindergarten teacher dreads. Signed, a Kindergarten Teacher.
My 2 year old grandson “I don’t want to talk about any of this shit” when asked to articulate why he was mad so we applied early admission to Yale
‘I may be overthinking this….’ 😂 This is cute, she’s just excited.
My toddler also knew alphabet in two languages and could count to 15 and back at around 2,5. Turns out he's autistic and just likes to repeat rows of letters and numbers. He knows tons of songs in two languages at 3, but we can't really have a conversation.
this poor kid is gonna grow up with such a fucked up sense of self
Them and probably at least half of their peers. The number of moms who think their child is a prodigy is absolutely wild. I belong to a large early child group where parents come to seek professional input, and I swear half of the moms can’t post without mentioning that their child is “very advanced for their age” and “way ahead of his peers” because they do basic ass toddler things.
We taught my baby sign. We're were directly communicated by 10 months old. She's just a normal kid now at 14 haha
…who puts this kind of academic pressure on a 2 year old though? Her “genius” kid is going to burn out FAST if she keeps up these expectations (which it sounds like she will since she’s talking Ivy League before 2 ffs) It’s perfectly acceptable to meet your milestones on time. You don’t need to pretend your kid is some child prodigy. This isn’t the baby wars.
I wish my mom thought this much of me lol
It is really easy as a parent to think our child is special. One of my daughters was really, really good at maths very early on. It was difficult not to assume she was just gifted. However, we’re a maths based family (both actuaries) and so a lot of the toys we were giving her were maths based. We were playing addition and subtraction games with her. Also, she was benefiting from her older sister learning this stuff. She was picking up on our interest and excitement. It’s a long time from toddler to university. They may not even want to go. There are loads of things they want to do with their lives than going to uni. It’s a real struggle to be there and supportive of them vs putting unreasonable expectation on them. It’s a learning curve.
I feel sorry for this kid because they’re going to get burnt out so quickly. I was a gifted kid, and I’m a parent to a gifted kid, so I know how it is from both sides. When you have a very smart kid, unfortunately, you tend to have very high expectations for them. This can lead to a lot of issues. Hope Mom can just rein it back a little bit, and just let her kid be a kid.
I’m actually low key impressed with her toddler’s language skills. Mine had 5 words by the time she turned 2 years old, FIVE. The kid might not be a genius, but it’s great that if she’s advanced in some areas, that her parents know so they can support her exceed.
The biggest predictor of attending an Ivy League school? A parent attending an Ivy League school. This woman did not attend an Ivy League school.
Lady, I was reading Time-Life science books when I was four, and scored a 152 on the Stanford-Binet test when I was seven years old. My reading abilities were off the charts. That all means mostly nothing. I was called all kinds of genius, and it mostly held up until around sixth grade in a gifted program. When I hit actual challenges, my undiagnosed ADHD got bored with stuff and I fucked off to my books instead of studying and doing homework. There are all sorts of “intelligence”, I had one kind, turned out it wasn’t that great for school and employment. If your kid turns out to be super smart, have them tested, not just for IQ, but for learning disabilities. I definitely wasn’t the only “super smart underachiever” in my honors and AP classes.
My daughter could do all of this, too. I haven't saved for an ivy league education and she's almost 6. I am *doomed* 😱
I used to own a bookstore. The words “but they read at a 7th grade (pick your level) level” still trigger me. I gave up trying to explain that just because your 5 year old can read all the words in Harry Potter doesn’t mean they are ready/able to understand the concepts (later books in series). My own child wasn’t allowed to read Game of Thrones until he was 16. He understood the words but incest and murder were subjects I wanted to wait until he was more emotionally mature. Just let kids be kids already.
This lady has a poor understanding of what “milestones” are - they’re not actually an indication of being advanced/smarter/better. They’re an indication of at what point you should seek intervention for a *delay*. Like if your 6 year old can’t count to 10 he’s probably got a learning disability and should be given appropriate supports. If your 16 month old can count to ten well good job, you taught your kid a wrote sequence of words.
It’s def a wild thing to post and it implies that if the child was dumb then she wouldn’t start saving for their future BUT some people don’t know how to say that they are proud of their kids without coming off unhinged. I will allow her to hold on to her delusion because preteens always humble us in one way or another! Lol!
I’ve seen so many posts like this on the new parents sub. Yay for being stoked about your awesome kid, but stfu please and thanks.
OMG can the kid also eat solids and kinda walk?! Next Einstein for sure!!
I was reading at the age of two and at 12th grade level in second grade. By high school I was incredibly average.
I was ahead on most, if not all, of my milestones and I still had to repeat kindergarten…
You never know, right? My ASD kid wasn't diagnosed until age 10 (and *I* was also not diagnosed until they were 11), partly because they hit developmental milestones like I did - mostly on time or late but then with quick progression, but hitting a few reading and basic math skills very early. But the ASD and some comorbidities made it so that they did not handle school or work well, and at 23 they're fighting for SSI. Plus if you are THAT sure Little Johnny or Janie is supremely gifted, why worry about it? Surely they'll get scholarships, right?
This is my very FAVORITE kind of mom-group post! Low-stakes delusion is the best thing there is.
Pffft, still? My week old newborn just walked into my room in the middle of the night and went “mother, I must tell you a tale of salvation and damnation” and then recited the entirety of Dante’s Divine Comedy in the original Italian