I have two small children. I never thought I would end up writing so much about them. However, I do hope that most of the time the stuff I choose to focus on is a little more interesting than ‘Oh it’s hard being a parent! They are stinky, they are demanding, they don’t sleep’… etc.
Similarly, I also hope that I don’t give the impression that my kids are something special. Of course – Ruby (6) and Gregory (3) ARE something special (to me) but as I said in my previous post – my children are no more special or important or lovely than anyone else’s. They *are* however, a bit precocious. Not because I want them to be (it is entirely possible to cause your kids to become precocious, I do believe) but because they *just are*. That’s them. More so Ruby (who is older and hasn’t stopped communicating from being about a week old. I kid you not…) but now Gregory seems to be quietly precocious. Bizarrely precocious.
Now, I NEVER used this term to describe my children. I was brought up to believe that it was an insult. Something that spoiled, middle class, smug, rude, running wild and condescending brats could be described as. None of those labels fit my two (well…maybe ‘rude’ sometimes. ‘Brats’ some days? Hmm and other days they ARE a bit wild…) But recently a couple of very good friends (you know who you are!) very affectionately described them as this. So I decided to look the real meaning up in a dictionary and was suprised to find the meaning as:
PRECOCIOUS
I like both meanings. No mention of them being nasty, irritating little gits. Additionally, I quite like the thought that one day I will get to prune them down a bit. Or – perhaps like a bay leaf – pop them in a casserole in order to make it that wee bit more tasty.
But I digress. I just wanted to explain who my two are and why I no longer mind them being described as ‘precocious’. Sounds more interesting than ‘gifted’ or ‘talented’. And although the accepted terminology is now becoming ‘HLP – High Learning Potential’ (something I will write a lot more about later on along with other characteristics and conditions people are not very much aware of), I think I am quite happy for anyone communicating with me via this blog to refer to them as ‘precocious’ or ‘cheeky little swines’.
So – go for it!