Comments on: Give that Mom a Medal

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:56:25 +0000

Great article. It tied in well with a previous post of mine about ADHD serving a purpose. Wound up writing about it a bit more:

http://www.throwingmarshmallows.com/home/about-that-adhd-serving-a-purpose-thing.html

No, all kids are not gifted like Michael Phelps. But I do believe that all children have gifts, no matter how big or small. Some kids will recognize these gifts in school, but many will not. But all kids should have someone in their life to help them recognize those gifts and no child should be judged only by what they can’t do.

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 21:39:07 +0000

Great post! I didn’t know that about Michael Phelps- but I’ve been thinking along the same lines- about helping kids find their potential, even if it’s outside the “norm”. Thanks!

By: hi-d

hi-d — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:11:11 +0000

This was so great to read! I love finding this out about Michael Phelps. I have on of those in my bunch…and I sometimes worry about other peoples comments influencing him and his future.
Very inspirational! Thanks!
hi-d

By: myderbe

myderbe — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:11:21 +0000

Thanks for this post. How encouraging and timely to me as I’m raising two boys who can’t sit still and who hyper-focus on things that interest them and can’t seem to focus on anything that doesn’t interest them. Thanks.

By: bookwormhub

bookwormhub — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:46:58 +0000

This post is very heartwarming.

Our society at times tends to judge people based on what they see on the outside. Like Michael, some people saw him as someone who’s different but only his mother had faith in him that he’ll excell on something.

We should imitate his mom the way she viewed the people she loves, deep and with compassion.

By: henry

henry — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:44:43 +0000

SwitchedOnMom, while reading your comment a thought hit me: I wonder if everyone has gifts, but not everyone is gifted. Clearly not everyone can be above average, but I think everyone has some talent or gift.

A big part of the problem with public schools is how they do nothing to find and develop each child to anything close to their potential.

By: SwitchedOnMom

SwitchedOnMom — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 00:32:24 +0000

Thanks for visiting Ms. Mize. However I don’t know about the statement “we are all uniquely gifted.”

That’s what I call the “Syndrome” Syndrome…you know, from The Incredibles? At one point in the movie he says something to the effect that when everyone’s gifted, no one will be gifted. While people may have strengths, preferences…”gifted” to me means a *whole* lot more and to say otherwise is to deny that, sorry, there are just some people that clearly have attributes that take them far beyond the average person.

By: Ms. Mize

Ms. Mize — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:25:19 +0000

Thank you for sharing this! It is so true that we are all uniquely gifted. We have different strengths and interests. It is a teacher’s job to discover and utilize them in the classroom. I am personally not a big fan of those meds. I wonder what it is like to be on them. I am so glad my mom never put me on them when it was suggested to her that I had ADD. I have seen a child on them and it is like he was behind a veil. He wasn’t himself. He was easier to subdue and took no extra attention from me. But isn’t one of the challenges of my job to teach each one? I will admit that sometimes that challenge is not fun. It can be tiring and overwhelming. Most often I love this challenge!