Parents "Old Soul"

[littlegirlsdream]

After reading the Indigo article, though interesting, this is NOT at all like my DD. I feel like I have to clarify again because I may have painted the wrong picture of poor DD. She does have good peer relationships and the older she gets the more it seems she has in common with her peers. I have found that her gymnastics team has kids that are just like her where in contrast her classmates seem much less mature. She is easy going in personal relationships, she doesnt care to be right all the time and she doesnt care to boss anyone, she gets along with most all people. She is NOT easy going in other ways. She has an over developed sence of right and wrong and refuses to follow anyone if she views it as "not the right thing to do". She loves to play with friends but if she wants to do something else than she does it even if that means she does it alone. She has strong work ethic and is that kid that will spend 20 hours a day at gym if we let her. She also is that kid that will read 5 books in one night to get her school reading chart done on day 1. She has never been hyper or ADD, although she does have boundless energy. She does not pretend play, never has. She writes and reads fictional stories and loves them, especially Magic Treehouse type books. However, she has never played fairy princess, dress up, dolls or any other imaginary type play. I was concerned when she was 2yrs old and her preschool teacher told me we needed to work on pretending. However, now I see better who she is and that she is happy in her own skin. I do worry that she is too serious and too anxious about things for someone so young. I was never a serious kid, or adult for that matter I hope to help her express her worries and concerns as she grows and developes.

Something rang true in the posts above. Like many of you said as early as age two people would express to me how articulate she was and how they could have adult type conversations with her. I wonder if all these "adult type" conversations are not part of why she never developed pretend play, she didnt act 3 so she wasnt treated like she was 3. Lilgymie7, your daughter sounds like a pleasure to be around and a pleasure to raise you must have a blast just watching her work her charm

 

[Billy]

I don't know if it has something to do birth order or not...my "old soul" is my 12 yo DS who is the textbook "middle child." I know EXACTLY what you are saying. While it may be a bit different with boys, I think my main advice is to remind yourself constantly that though they are mature beyond their years in some ways, they really are just kids in others. My DS would rather talk to a group of 30 year olds (men or women, doesn't matter) than teenagers. He is a huge reader so his vocabulary is amazing and his sense of humor is adult like as well. While it's nice at times, I really have worried a lot about the fact that he just seems too old for his body. Teachers, coaches, etc have a hard time figuring him out because he's not your typical kid...but the older he gets and the more his body catches up with his mind, the happier he seems. I don't know about your DD, but in my case, this is a risk taker...think outside the box kind of kid. While in some ways it would have been easier if he were just like other boys his age (he can argue a point with the best, yet he can't remember to take out the trash without being asked), he has taught me that sometimes kids really know themselves--and if we didn't have risk takers or those who buck authority (albeit in the proper and peaceful way), this world would be a much different place (think electricity, running water, automobiles, civil rights, cell phones...)Bottom line...the world is full of people in many shapes and sizes, and minds are just as diverse. Celebrate it. It is a gift in my opinion.

I have three kids who all relate to "the box" in different ways. My teenage son is very much "inside the box." Things must be done a certain way and only that way. My daughter, the middle child, will consider "the box" and if it works for her, great. If it doesn't she'll ignore it and do things her way. My youngest son didn't even know there was a "box." LOL.. He definitely marches to the beat of his own drummer. I don't know if he's an "old soul" but he did tell me when he was seven that he voted for Abraham Lincoln.

 

[lilgymmie7]

lilgymie7, your daughter sounds like a pleasure to be around and a pleasure to raise you must have a blast just watching her work her charm

Thank you littlegirlsdream! She really is, but then again so are my other two children. She definitely charms people. What i love the most is that she doesnt let little things bring her down.