Thinks Like a Big Kid, Feels Like a Little Kid
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
burghbaby

There is a 100% chance that I am completely unprepared for that which is this child.

From the sparkles she throws around everywhere she goes to the swagger she somehow possesses, she is just ... too much.

So much.

All of the things.

But The Thing that recently has been proving my incompetence over and over and over again is That Thing where she can read far beyond her age group.

If you've got your panties in a wad over me complaining about her being a good reader, simmer down for a second and hear me out. The Thing about having a kid who can read well early is that they can read things they just shouldn't. For example, Alexis is SUPER interested in history, so she has made it a habit to check out books from the library that tell her things about Lincoln's assassination, the sinking of the Titanic, King Tutankhamun, etc.

Guess which kid wasn't emotionally prepared to learn that women and children were pretty much the only ones who survived the Titanic? Guess which kid had nightmares for weeks about being aboard the Titanic and losing her parents and soooooooooob waaaaaaaaah soooooooooooob? She very seriously cried for over an hour one day because she couldn't stop thinking about how sad it would be to watch your family members sink to their deaths.

We all lost sleep over it, just as we did when she was worried that there was an assassin walking the streets of Pittsburgh, just waiting for theater-goers to be seated so he could shoot at will.

My point is that I don't know how to keep the bookworm adequately challenged, but emotionally OK. I mean, she's *my* kid, so she's going to end up emotionally scarred, but I would prefer that it be from the damage I cause and not because she's reading stuff she's not old enough to handle just yet.

So, internet, help me out here. The kid can read books like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Secret Garden (her current favorites), but she should be reading things like Elephant and Piggie. She loves history, but gets super pissed off if she encounters a lot of words she doesn't understand. Suggestions? Titles? Favorite books?

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