Can behavior problems be a sign of giftedness?

Okay, how many times have a blogged that Sawyer is ADHD????? Lots! He is crazy wild and he is moody and he has such a hard time concentrating. I NOW have the answer.... well, I am going to tell myself that this is the answer. I am going to accept that I have an Einstein on my hands because it makes me feel better then me having a moody, ADHD, crazy wild child. So read away.... very interesting!!!


Can behavior problems be a sign of giftedness?
Expert Answers
The BabyCenter Editorial Team
Written in consultation with Linda Powers Leviton, a psychotherapist specializing in the needs of the gifted, and James T. Webb, a clinical psychologist and lead author of "A Parent's Guide to Gifted Children".

Yes, absolutely. Children who are gifted are often mistakenly suspected of having ADHD or other disabilities with behavioral elements.
That may be because along with other gifted characteristics, many gifted children exhibit so-called sensory sensitivities, which can make them seem difficult or uncooperative.
Such kids may become exhausted by classroom noise or be distracted or disturbed by the flicker and buzz of fluorescent light. They may complain about scratchy shirt labels or sock seams and recoil from bright lights, harsh sounds, "bad" smells, or certain food textures. They may also talk rapidly or compulsively, have boundless energy, or display compulsive habits or tics.
Heightened sensitivity combined with heightened intensity is known as overexcitability. Kids with emotional overexcitability experience a more intense range of emotions – whether happy, sad, or angry – than a regular kid. Sensitive kids are more prone to depression, guilt, and physical responses to emotions, such as stomach pains or headaches due to anxiety.
Some gifted kids' brains consume glucose far more quickly than is typical. If their blood sugar levels dip too fast, it can cause sudden, inexplicable meltdowns, poor judgment, or lack of impulse control. (Frequent high-protein, low-sugar snacks can alleviate this problem.)
Very bright children are often unusually strong willed, negotiate like lawyers, use sarcasm to make a point, refuse to suffer fools, or are overly critical. Sometimes, gifted children are disruptive in classrooms because they refuse to do exercises they consider to be busywork. Of course, all of this can be true of any kid, it's just more so for gifted children. Misbehavior in the classroom can sometimes indicate that grade-skipping could be in order.
So how can you tell whether your child's misbehavior is due to giftedness? One sign is if the unwanted behavior is specific to a situation. Maybe your child mucks up only at school. But at home, he's consumed with a project or pastime, often getting lost in the activity and losing track of time, or isn't easily deterred from the task (he doesn’t hear you calling him for dinner because he's engrossed in a book, say).
If that's the case, you may have a gifted kid on your hands. In either case, misbehavior needs to be dealt with and not just tolerated, regardless of the reason for it.Another way of teasing out giftedness versus straight-up misbehavior is to observe how your child acts in settings where he's engaged in activities he likes with kids who share his interest and abilities. If he's focused, engaged, and cooperative, that may explain why he acts out in situations where he's not stimulated enough.

The best family photo ever!!!!

Sawyer is starting to draw and color a little better then in the past where he would just scribble all over the page like a maniac. Some kids his age are writing their names, some can color in the lines, some can even draw good stick people.... but this picture is impressive for MY SAWYER whoms brain is chaotic and all over the place!!!

So as any proud mommy would do, show off his work! Not only is it impressive that he sat down long enough to draw this, but I was cracking up laughing while he was telling me what everything was.

First he drew daddy. (Daddy is in blue). He said, Daddy has looooooooong legs. He then drew his body and his arms and hands... started scribbling a little bit, then I got him back on track by asking him, "WHere is daddy's face?" He did a practice circle to the right of daddy for his face, then he put his face in the middle of his body with eyeballs and a smile. But then, he proceeded to draw underneath his body, Daddy's dook (aka hinney)... and then, DADDY'S PEE WORM! Oh yeah, that would have gone over well in a church daycare!!! If you look carefully, Sawyer made daddy a pee worm to be proud of!!!

So the he proceeded to draw mommy in purple. "Mommy, you have looooong legs too!" (Yes son I am a supermodel). And then the arms are a little off balance, but I do have two of them, no hands and the only other thing I got on me was my face, eyes and of course, MY PEE BUN! (This is the word I explained to him one day when he started asking what a girl had and I wasn't expecting it, and it has stuck).

Braxton was next (RED), he got legs, two arms, a face, eyes, and of course a pee worm that is mighty long and unattached to any part of Braxton body!!! Maci (Orange) got legs, one arm that looks like a leg, a face with 4 eyes and WOW, 2 pee buns! Yes, I have always wanted a little girl, but one with 4 eyes and 2 pee buns, a little much I should say!!!

Lastly was Sawyer (Green). He said that I was hugging him (so sweet!!)so he drew him in between my two loooong supermodel legs that are a mile apart! He gave himself 2 long legs, a head, one eye, a long line for his dook and a really long line for his pee worm!

NOTE: It is really important to draw the Important Parts of your family in your family portrait. Dont' worry about hair, or ears, or even a mouth.... just legs, sometimes arms, a head and most importantly Pee Worms and Buns!!!

LOOK!!!!

HEY EVERYONE.... I AM STANDING....

AND I AM DOING PUSH UP'S... I AM SO STRONG....

DADDY IS SO PROUD OF ME ALREADY!!!

JUNGLE BOY

Sawyer has been so into Jungle boy the last few weeks!!! Everytime he gets a chance to take off his clothes he will and he runs around saying he is jungle boy!!! Braxton does the same thing too after he takes a bath.... he runs around naked as a jay bird saying, "I amb Junggled Boyed"

Sawyer wanted to take his nap today in his jungle boy outfit... but I did make him keep his underware on. After he took his nap, he came downstairs with his jungle boy outfit on... showing me what jungle boy does!!! As you can see, he is either a jungle boy.. OR he is a monkey!!!

This is Parker, Sawyer and Braxton ALL being Jungle boys!!! They all look like they could be brother jungle boys!

Just a few pictures...

Our house in the snow!



Our Redneck Snow Day, pulling a sled with a lawnmower!!! Golf Cart was dead, so the lawnmower was our only other option! IT WORKED!


Maci Sleeping in the snow on the hamock!




My favorite 3 boys!!! Sawyer wanted his snow "gobbles" on.


Braxton looks like that little boy on the Christmas Story, all bundled up where he can't move!






Scott sledding down the hill with Dalton and Sawyer.... Dalton's facial expressions were soooo funny!!! It was a big hill too, I wouldnt' go down it!

My Three Babies on "Snow Mountain". There is a about a foot or more of snow pile up on our back porch where the snow/sleet fell off the roof into this pile and they named the pile "snow mountain". I think they got this off a Dora episode.

Isn't it funny....

...how excited we all get, especially the kids, when it is suppose to snow OR when it is snowing. BUT when it actually happens and you are stuck inside (which I love being able to spend more time with my husband), and when you go OUTSIDE with the kids (after an hour of dressing them in layers), it is not quite as fun as it look like it was going to be from the inside!!!

Kids screaming because it is cold, whinny because they are wet, and screaming because their jeep will not go in the snow!!! OH, how I love the snow!!! But on the bright side... it is beautiful!

How excited do they look to be outside????? Braxton is so cold his eyes are watering and his cheeks were just as chapped... he didn't' even say a word while he was outside... only a nod, uhh uhh, that he was ready to go inside! It took Sawyer a whole 5 minutes to be ready to go back inside!!

Maci's first snow!!! She was fascinated by all the white!

How much do you love me???

How much do you love me Braxton???

I asked him this every night and every night he says...

"2" (holding 2 fingers up)

Even though I can't get him to explain what "2" means, I am going to go with "2" much!!! Lord knows I love him "2" much! My little tornado. Destructive and "2" sweet!

Sawyer's Activities...

We have started to put Sawyer in gymnastics and Ta Kwon Do this year hoping to get out some of his energy and learn something in the process. With Gymnastics, he started in late October.... I was really surprise when we took him because I thought he would be wide open and they would not be able to keep up with him. BUT, he pouted and would go limp and would not listen to the teachers and would run the other direction and not do what they asked of him. He steadily did a little better but as a parent it is very frustrating to see your child act like that. He is VERY athletic and he just needs some focus and some direction from someone whom can control that. So we decided to put him in Ta Kwon Do. The best decision that we could have done!!! The class is focused on Respect, Focus and Strength. He does do the limp thing in there too, (but I have threaten to put a bow in his hair if he does not stop) and MASTER JOE is very direct with him and gets in his face and makes Sawyer look him in the eye! And if he does not look him in the eye and stand up, he starts whining like a baby and tells Sawyer he needs to be a BIG BOY not a little baby. Sawyer jumps right up then!! Just in the 5 classes he has taken up there, it is amazing the difference it has made!!! Poor Braxton has to sit on the sidelines and take it all in. In fact, Braxton would do better at listening because he sits over on the side, Yelling "Yes Sir" and then he bows and kicks and punches. Much better then Sawyer, however they will not let him take the class for 6 more months.

Anyway, today we had Sawyer's last day at gymnastics and they had a SHOW! He really did well today. JoJo and Scott came to watch and he was WIDE open.

This is Sawyer pouting and dropping on the ground at the beginning as every other child ran around him playing!!!

Sawyer and some of the kids in his group!!!

Sawyer showing off his cartwheels and handstands during his floor routine!

Sawyer during his bar routine!!! He was so excited to show us what he could do!

He go a medal for doing so well, and he could not wait to run up to me and show me his medal!!
All the kids in his group making funny faces!

ta kwon do
Sawyer and Master Joe,

Sawyer was so excited to be able to put his name on his outfit, he didn't even want me to wash it because he thought his name would wash off!

Sawyer standing at attention with Master Joe. YES SIR! Sawyer learning his Ta Kwon Do moves... Ahh Yaaa!

Sawyer Kicking.... He was so happy when he thought he had kicked so hard that Master Joe went flying back on the mat!!!
This was Sawyer kicking the board.... and boy was that boy ecstatic when he kicked it right in half and it went flying everywhere!!!

Things that change when you have children....

Things that change when you have children:

1. You get up multiple times at night, and it is not for using the bathroom, throwing up from a night of too much fun, or getting a midnight snack... it is for a crying child that is hungry, sick (them throwing up), scared, OR just because they want to see if you will come up there. They might want their shoes, or a different pair of PJ's on, a passie, OR just to say I love you and to say their prayers again.
2. You start to look for shadows that MIGHT look like monsters in a child room to make sure they will not get scared at night.

3. Daddy turns into a horse.
4. Mommy does her exercise by running after her children... say goodbye to the gym!
5. Your house turns into a tornado zone! Really... it does!
6. Your couch turns into a fortress! A house made of pillows, blankets and crazy little children. Forget a place for the guest OR you as a matter of fact, to sit, it is now the children's HOUSE!
7. You will never, EVER be able to sit down for a full meal because either:
a. They want more drink.
b. They want more to eat.
c. They are ready to get down.
d. They are already down and fighting with each other.
e. They drop food on the floor that needs to be picked up or mopped up.
f. They fall OUT of their chair and hit their head on the table.

8. Their lotion turns into a pretend shampoo for their HAIR, (see picture below), rug, and carpet.

9. When they decide that they made a mistake for using the lotion for their shampoo, they will use the wipes that are suppose to be for their hinney, in their hair. And when I say using wipes, they WILL use all the wipes in the box.
10. You hear the English language used in many different context.
11. You hold hands with with little boys instead of your husband.
12. You NEVER get a day to sleep in... even if you sweet husband gets up with them, you still HEAR them.
13. You will never be able to write a blog with out getting up 50 times while writing it. (FACT)
14. You will NEVER take a shower in peace. Unless it is at 11:00 at night... and even then a child might be crying out for you.
15. When you do get a chance to take a SHOWER... you will have either have children pressing their face up against the glass, bringing every toy in the bathroom, (just something else to clean up), jumping in and out of the bathtub and possible face planting on your tile floor. You will have to get out to either split a fight between 2 siblings, put a crying baby's passie in her mouth, wipe someones butt, or to make sure that the kids don't get into something dangerous while you are trying to peacefully take a hot shower. Did I say peaceful????
16. The news will now turn into, "What did Swiper do today on Dora the Explorer?"
17. The TV is now officially, THEIRS.
18. DVR will be a blessing, but also a curse. When you turn on the regular TV, they don't understand why you can't skip the commericals.
19. Instead of talking with your husband about money, you are teaching your children NOT to put money in their mouth.
20. Chicken Nuggets have become the top of the food pyramid.
21. Your calendar will be tough to read your things to do, because their will be MARKS all over it from the kids "Wanting to Color" while you are out of the room.
22. When you want to get somewhere FAST, you had better start getting things and the kids ready 2 hours before. Now that is FAST in children world.
23. Say bye bye to the days of taking a shower, getting in your car to go to work stress free.... your day doesn't get stressful WHEN YOU go to work, it is WAY BEFORE you go to work!
24. When you have played a movie for the kids in the car once, you will never be able to listen to the radio again... they will say they want to watch "SHARK TALES" over and over, that you had rather listen to Shark Tales again then to them repeating themselves 1,000 times.
25. You will hear the words, "MOMMY, I GOT BOOGERS" so many times during the day that you don't even think it is funny anymore.
26. A trip to the grocery store WITHOUT the kids is considered a vacation.
27. You always pick a loud restaurant to go to with your kids, because who knows how loud their tantrums will be while you are there.
28. McDonald's to a kid is like a diamond to a woman!
29. You will never have a clean car again.... it will have french fries, crumbs, juice spills, throw up, spit up, hand prints, and mouth prints everywhere.
30. You will NOT have a dining room, living room, or a porch anymore. It has turned into TOY R US.
31. You surfing the net for stuff for you, will turn into surfing the net for trying to figure out how to be a better parent, if my child has ADHD, ordering groceries, signing your child up for some sport or just trying to order clothes for you new baby GIRL!!!!! Yep that is addicting!
32. Talking on the phone will NEVER be the same. Your kids WILL always find something to do bad while you are talking to someone, or will be yelling in the back ground where you can't even talk at all!
33. If you breastfeed, your body will ONLY belong to that baby... poor hubby!!!
34. Being clean= putting on lotion to cover up the stink, deo, and brushing your teeth if you have time!
35. AND LAST (there are many more changes, but I have to go break up a fight with my boys and get Maci up from her nap and feed her), YOU WILL NEVER LOVE SOMETHING MORE THEN YOU WILL LOVE YOUR CHILDREN!!! They are the most precious, yet aggravating, little people you will ever be around!!! JUST PURE LOVE!!! GOD'S BLESSINGS!

Description of my monkey's

I put this as my profile picture because it really describes my kids by just taking a picture!
Sawyer- He is my moody child, nice one minute, whinny one minute, a leader the next minute, a follower the next minute, mean the next minute, pouty the next minute, loving the next minute, needy the next minute, and so on... he is CRAZY WILD, almost ADHD, can't stop moving, even when he is sleeping he is moving his leg... his hair is always crazy unless he takes a bath right before we go somewhere and I dry it with a hairdryer (like the picture).... athletic...inquisitive... talkative....great big brother to Maci....smart... great memory...mind of his own
Maci- Sweet, a little priss pot, loves her brothers, curious of what is going on in the world, nosey, smiles and talks all the time, loves her baby dolls,observant, beautiful, full of life, content!
Braxton- Destructive....funny... mischievous....care free...daring....hard headed, REALLY hardheaded... SOOO loving, he is my cuddle bunny.... SWEET...direct... indecisive...did say destructive? He is like a little tornado traveling through the house....observant.... will repeat ANYTHING you ask him to... all boy... will stand up for himself in a heartbeat, will not let Sawyer take over...

All BOY!!! BOTH OF THEM ARE! 2 LITTLE MONKEY'S JUMPING "OFF" THE BED!

MY PRINCESS!