Gifted Children and Never-Ending Questions

Someone says to you, "You really shouldn't push your child."
"Push?" you reply, puzzled.
If you weren't so worn out trying to keep up with your child, you might think it was funny that someone would think you are pushing. Parents of gifted kids often complain that they are exhausted and one thing that parents of gifted children find exhausting is the non-stop questions, many of which take the deceptively simple form of "Why?" Go to bed. Why? Because it's your bedtime. Why? Because children need lots of sleep. Why? Because they can get sick if they don't get enough sleep. Why? And so on and so on. These kids can wear you down with this kind of questioning. Sometimes, though, the questions are tougher to answer: Why is the sky blue? Why do we have to die?

Sometimes parents get so worn down, they resort to the age-old favorite parental answers: "Because I said so" or simply "Just because." Although these replies are certainly understandable -- we parents do want to keep our sanity -- they can stifle the curiosity of a gifted child, which is something we really want to nurture. Instead of trying to answer all the questions or trying to stop them, use some strategies for acknowledging the questions but postponing the answers.

Poll: Does your child seem to have a never-ending supply of questions?

• Yes
• No
• Sometimes

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