Obsessive traits

[lovecheese]

Do very bright children often have some peculiar little "quirks" to their personality? Do they go hand in hand?
DD is 5, yr1, a very very good reader and in top sets. But in some ways is quite , for want of a better word, babyish in that she is obsessive about her books and cries if she creases a page; likes to watch waybuloo and other pre-school programmes; is very sensitive to criticism; does not like being outside very much; has no interest in HSM etc and likes things just so. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? As she getss older I dont want her to be picked on for being slightly "Different". Thanx.

I dont think bright children have any more quirks, on average, than any other child. Your dd sounds like a typical 5yo - more mature in some areas of her development than others. It'll even up in time, and there's no reason to think she'll be "different" as she grows up, any more than we're all individuals anyway.

Well my 9 year old and 11 year old still enjoy watching Peppa Pig with their 3 year old brother.

DS1 made it to Grammar School without coaching but is nowhere near G&T. However he flaps his hands when distressed and shouts out random words for no apparent reason even when not distressed.

DS2 is pretty good at maths (and as he told someone today - intellegent enough) but takes his socks off and chews them.

DS3 is only 3 and like all 3 year olds life is one big quirk.
So I think everyone has quirks.

Support her in the things she finds hard and enjoy every minute of her while you can.

There is meant to be an association between giftedness and sensitivities. Google Dabrowski's Sensitivities as a starting point.
Also is she an only child or the eldest in your family? ime those with older siblings seem to move on to the likes of HSM etc. a bit younger than those without older siblings.

If there were a problem I imagine school would have picked up on it by now. Have they mentioned anything about the obsessiveness?

DD1 (16) still has quirks (must have different food seperated on her plate, must have certain things laid out in patterns, gets stressed when people do things "in the wrong order") but has come to terms with the fact that other people don't feel the same way about them as she does, and aren't deliberately trying to upset her.

Fortunately now her friends accepts her as being as she is, a bit weird maybe. it was harder when she was younger though as she wasn't able to deal with teasing/laughing, and I didn't always realise what things were important ot her (and continued serving up peas which I thought she liked, but turns out she doesn't like the feeling of biting into one, so used to save them up till the end of her meal, then eat them v.e.r.y. slowly one at a time once she'd plucked up enough courage to tackle them ).

Try not to worry too much about stuff that's relatively unimportant, or stuff that happens at home, but perhaps gently discourage stuff which might make her stand out in public/at school?

thanks everyone; thegrammerpolicesic - she is the middle of three girls, oldest is 9 and youngest is 1. Will google that name and see what it comes up with.