If your excuse for not reading any of the GATE resource material has been that the books are too long and scholarly, then this is one book that will help you cope without wearing you out or forcing you to miss your favorite episodes of Masterpiece Theatre, ball games, or the evenings news. At 123 pages (if you don’t count the index and recommended reading list), it can be read in a few evenings without falling asleep.

Written as a “bookend” companion to the Gifted Kids Survival Guide, it addresses the eight great gripes of parents with gifted kids.

1. No one explains what having a “gifted child” is all about.

2. I don’t like having my child labeled.

3. Relatives, other parents, and teachers don’t recognize that we have unique problems. They assume it’s a snap to raise a gifted child.

4. All parents like to think their kids are extra special. Some people think we’re on an ego trip or just plain pushy.

5. The school assumes that “the cream always rises to the top,” so special programs for the gifted aren’t needed. If that’s true, then why is my child bored and unhappy with school?

6. Other people expect my child to be gifted in everything, or to act like an adult.

7. Parents get no support for this challenging job. Once you give birth, you’re supposed to know it all.

8. It’s exhausting to raise a gifted child! I wish there were ways to make it easier.  

If any of these sound familiar, this book is a good place to start exploring your task of raising a gifted child. In addition, the end of the book contains fifteen important frequently asked questions, such as “What do I do if my child is an underachiever? -- won’t stop reading – is bored all the time – or is obnoxious?”  

My advice, as a GATE parent who will be passed soon enough by my own child, is: don’t guess and don’t go it alone. Even if you are gifted yourself, you can’t know everything. So, take a few evenings (one if you’re a speed reader) and get practical, helpful advice.  Your gifted child is too important to not get the best parenting you can provide.

David L. Jones, GATE parent