Respond to a gifted child with patience

There is only one way to respond to a gifted child and that is with patience. All the time, you need to always respond with patience. Why is this? Because if you respond with any bit of frustration, things will go downhill fast. This is really for any kid, but I think that gifted kiddos are just more sensitive. They respond to every little change in your voice. And if they sense that you are frustrated, or you try to hurry them along, their sense of urgency will get even lower.

I know it is hard

You guys, this is hard. Right now as I am writing this. I have worked all day and then I put my younger son to bed. Yes, right now he is 10 years old and I still have to “put him to bed” because he thrives on routine. And he will not be able to independently go to bed. He starts thinking about all these great things, like if time travel can really exist, and he would forget to go to bed.

But the point is, that I am super tired from work. And I just want my son to go to bed. But if I get frustrated with him instead of responding to him with patience. Everything comes to a stand still. He starts asking why I am so mad and why I don’t like him. Instead of getting ready for bed. I need to be calm, and I need to be patient. Even though I am just so tired, and it is just so hard.

They don’t try to selfish

Gifted kids don’t try to be selfish. They just have so much going on in their heads. And they forget that there are other people. They forget that other people are not at their level. My son is very intelligent, but he definitely does not notice when I am getting to the end of my rope. He will continue to tell me about all of his big ideas. He will continue to be creative. And he will continue to ask me questions that I can’t answer. Like who is the smartest living man now, and was Albert Einstein smarter than Stephen Hawking and is there a way that we can compare them, even though they are both dead now. This is absolutely a true conversation that happened two nights ago.

They don’t try to be rude

My son just said to me, “Why can’t you just answer my questions correctly?” First off that was very rude. I told him this, and he had proper consequences. I also told him he needs to be polite. But gifted kids are just always thinking about big things and brilliant things. So they don’t even realize they are being rude.

We need to keep this in mind so that we can respond to a gifted child with patience. These are brilliant, wonderful kids, and they are going to change the world some day. But right now, they are a little difficult to deal with. So keep the patience with you at all times.

Vanessa is a Doctor of Pharmacy who champions natural health. She lives with her husband of 18 years as well as her 12 & 15 year old sons. She aspires to encourage moms on their journey to family wellness through holistic health and essential oils.