I have been playing with this question for the longest time...

It all started when i was on the streets one day and saw a young busker...
when i say young i mean REALLY young...he is 5 years old..
and god can he play the drums...all he needed was to hear the song once...
and lo and behold he can compose the whole drum beat on his own drums...

Then i got me thinking...
how are parents going to handle children that have a special talent or clearly surpass them at suh a tender and vulnerable age??
Will parents be able to handle such a special child??
How to prevent their abilities from overcasting their role as a parent..??
For those who are already parents...what would you do?? Can you handle it??
Are parents able to step up to this challenge and still continue to protect their kid...??

For those non-parents...how do u possibly think you would handle such a situation if it so happens that your future kid may turn out this way as well...

As for that young drummer boy i saw...his father completely couldn't handle his boy's ability...he seems entirely overcasted by his son and all he could do is stand by and watch his son...
With that kind of scenario..it almost seemed as if his father is making a living out of is underaged son...
that may not be the case as he may juz be showcasing his son's talent...but it sure looks like it..haha

I would think having such a gifted child would be a blassing, not something that seems to make me feel inferior in any way. It is just genetics and natural talent. I would encourage my child's skill, but of course if it were something musical or artistic, I would still make them study and such. I think it would bring a sense of pride, more than it would make me feel inferior or be a burden.

What would be harder is to watch your child not use the talent you know they have in any way (even to just enjoy for themselves).

there's very few things worse than regretting wasted potential.

I absolutely agree. As well, to answer the question myself with words other than arche's, I would have to say that I would be quite happy if I ended up giving birth to a child prodigy/genius, provided that it is a gift in an area that is deemed societally "accessible" (i.e. music, art, etc.) or "practical" (i.e. mathematics, physics, etc.). I want a little philosopher child to give me my daily dose of random Plato quotes.

A wasted talent is one thing. A wasted opportunity is something different.

A talented child usually attracts so much attention that at one point, the child may get too pressured to efficiently do what he's great at. For some of these gifted children, their talents get overexposed, and pretty soon they lose interest in what they're doing.

On the other hand, If a parent tries to suppress the innate talent that a child has, It would just lead to the child's special abilities going to waste.

For me, a balance of both suppression and ecouragement should be used to develop the full potential of a gifted child's talents. Not too exposed, and not too hidden.

Also, the issue about the child overshadowing the parent, really isn't something to be worried about. After all, the child is your offspiring. Meaning, what he has, came from you.

I agree that that method would be the best...but..it is striking a balance that is difficult isn't it??

Parents are human beings and have the same motives that typical humans have. This means that it is fully reasonable to think that some parents would exploit their children (in the same way they would exploit any other person). It is also reasonable that a parent may feel jealous of a child (again in the same way they would feel jealous of any other person).

The issue then becomes one of fixing the demons that lie within any individual. Go to therapy and take medication

i don't know. i could read big like chaptery books before i could walk and i can outpaint pretty much any artist that tries to challenge me. When i was about 5 a teacher told me i wouldn't get anywhere in my life. ...that pissed me off so i tried harder and was more artistic than my art teacher. my parents never told me it was wrong or anything, they always encouraged me to do my best and were proud of me having talents, but never exploited it. They'd suggest that i should enter a contest or somthing a lot, but they never made me do something i didn't want to or went around bragging.

You must have learned to walk very late

Well said, sir.


What do you mean by "outpaint"? Art is a very subjective matter, I find.

The usual. Infuse my own beliefs onto the kid and make money off it's talent.

I'm sorry, but that is a really sick way of thinking. are you sure you should to be a parent?

Too late, he already has 4 and a half kids.

how do you have a half kid? wait that would be a step child but that would mean that...

and perhaps if i had a magic kid i would exploit him/her...i'm not picky. Just show me the money!

If you are serious, then I honestly hope that he was joking before.