Is it just me or is everyone else's child a genius?

[Pinkmakeupbag]

Maybe I am just bitter and jealous but it seems that everyone I meet, colleagues, relatives, friends, I even see it on here. Says that their child is exceptionally bright, advanced, top of the class, excelling academically. They all also tell me their children definitely could have gone to grammar school but chose not to.

I feel I'm the only mother with perfectly average children.

Don’t worry. I’m the same.

I also had the world’s only non-sleeping baby when she was small - everyone else’s baby was a complete dream and slept through from day one.

On here is full of it. I take most of it with a pinch of salt.

I think it's more usual when people ask how your DC are to mention things they are good at/they enjoy.

It's just small talk. I'm sure their DC are loud/leave mugs all over the place/laundry on the floor too.

Competitive parenting. They only tell you the good bits, such as my child is top at maths, and never the bad bits, like unfortunately they like to play class clown and disrupt the others

At least one of my children definitely IS a genius. We don’t really talk about it at all, though I have mentioned it on MN before. In RL, how would that conversation go?. I would imagine if people were telling me how clever their child is In RL that they weren’t.

I once met a mother who’s daughter was exceptionally bright top of the class. Except she didn’t realize my daughter shared the same class and her daughter sat on a lower table.

Some parents will just believe anything.

I’ve met a few bright kids, but none exceptional, they all catch up and level out at some point.

The secondary school forum on here is scary. All the kids are A* and set for some RG university. No one ever gets BBC and goes to a non-RG.

Speaking as a teacher, very few are very bright.

On social media, very child is a genius - just ignore.

I’m a tiny bit worried one of mine is a total dumbass. I’m hoping it’s just too early to tell...

The way people describe their kids on here sometimes makes me smile.
I was top of the class all through school as a child and, while my parents are lovely, supportive people, the closest I heard to them describing me as "academically gifted" or "exceptional" to other people was
"She seems pretty bright, that one."
I was called a pain in the arse far more frequently!

I'd place DC 1 in the upper average bracket and DC 2 in the scraping through category.
I have had my moments in the past where I thought both DC, when younger were absolute geniuses who would need their own class when they started school they were so ahead of their peers.
I was wrong and can see now that I was deluded

Yes, definitely everyone's child is. Except mine. He's exceptionally talented at smushing food into awkward places (grated cheese left under sofa cushions stinks FYI) and escaping his car seat to open the door/window mid drive though so you know, they've all got their strengths.

I don’t know really. I’m fairly frank on here. DD1 (19) is truly academically gifted and exceptionally talented in art and music. She has also suffered extreme mental illness (anorexia and depression) that nearly killed her. DD2 (16) is top 5/10 per cent academically. Very good art and music. So well above average, but not “gifted”. She is confident, and “sorted”. DS (9) is a bright, curious, friendly boy who is good at science and making things, but is profoundly dyslexic and cannot still read or write with any fluency. I don’t boost on here, but I’m not falsely modest either. What would be the point? I’m not deluded. I’m aware of their strengths and weaknesses. In real life I tend to flatten the curves a bit - play down the highs, gloss over the lows. I have never once overstated the achievements of my children. Nor overstated their problems either. That said, I am sure that some people do.

Mine’s not- looking at 5’s or 6’s next year (apart from the ones he’s really interested in), praying for 4’s in physics and maths TBH.

He’s thoughtful, funny, incredibly interested in history and well read in political history but not especially bright. (He also competes at national level in sport, so I’d be more likely to tell you about that than my worries about science GCSEs if I’m being honest!)

My DS really is one of those geniuses. He reads a lot and retains a ton of facts and information which he can put to good use, is excellent at all the sciences and maths.

My DD is bright and very good in class and excellent at maths etc and gets high marks but compared to DS is not in the genius bracket by quite a margin. She is much more sociable so will probably do better in the real world.

The best thing I ever read on here is comparison is the theft of joy!! As long as you are raising healthy, happy children that dont become knobby adults, you are doing a grand job!!

Unless you are Michael Gove it is impossible for everybody’s dc to be above average, therefore at least some of the parents with genius dc must be exaggerating ever so slightly

I've worked in an office for almost 20 years and almost every colleague whose child has gone up to secondary could have got into grammar school if they'd wanted to, only they all chose not to bother.

I've also rarely known anyone have so much as a constructive comment at a parents evening. They've always done absolutely amazing.

I'm sure some must be very bright, but I never hear anyone just saying that their dc are where they should be.

My child is a genius. He started school a year early because of it and has science, maths and English with the year 6s. He's also autistic and doesn't have any friends. I'd trade genius for socially able in an instant.

I find it funny. One of my kids is very bright for his age, doesn't mean he'll stay that way though, nor does it have much bearing on happiness. It is a bit tedious when people go on about how their child's teacher just doesn't recognise their brilliance.

The trouble with it all is that it’s kind of assumed that academic means better. Whereas there’s so much more to a person that just being good at school.

That’s must be hard to see your child has no friends @FatCatThinCat

Mine sleep, and comparatively I expect the eldest to do well at school. She missed school cut off by a few days last year, so is rearing to go and desperate to learn.

It’s only because of this I’d expect her to do well. Her younger sister couldn’t care less and will be a lot younger in the year.

Bizarely though DD 12 gets all-round higher grades than DS because he is quite lazy and not interested in all his classes at School. So bright DC who work hard will probably get better grades than DS 14 but there is no doubt to his Primary and Secondary School Teachers and others that he is a genius, but currently only interested in what interests him.

We went to the zoo yesterday, my five year old ate the animal feed we bought, he also managed to punch himself in the face. He was bitten by a goat, he cried because it hurt, he was then bitten twice more...

He is a decent reader and he can do basic addition sums, but genius he is not!

My almost two year old is fairly bright but is also an utter shit behaviour wise this week. He retains information well, can count, and can recognise some letters but I suspect he’s not a genius.