Testing over and not a moment too soon. Who'd have thought someone could be so resistant to being told she's smart? Really, does Angelina Jolie tirade when someone tells her she's beautiful? Does Bill Gates squawk when reminded how wealthy he is? Does Justin Bieber demur at being told he's talented?
Don't answer that last one.
The tests confirmed my suspicions -- Cupcake's one smart cookie -- but I was forbidden to speak of it because she was positive that being smart equaled being a freak. Every time I even tried to mention it she was all:
got it here.
So academic tweaks were made. Stakes were upped, challenges were increased, special projects were introduced, pleas for home schooling subsided. But not a word was mentioned to my daughter.
While I was at it, I applied her to one of those national gifted educational thingies offering on site programs and remote stuff through summer school, publications and web sites. I figured it might be a good weapon to have in my arsenal, but again, Cupcake would have none of it. She assured me, not too congenially, that she would never NEVER participate in any such program and she didn't want to hear anything about it from me again ever. Ever.
here it is.
So I quietly ignored email updates from the organization describing courses, seminars, meetings, conventions, publications, web sites and a book discussion group.
But...
I must have muttered about the book discussion group one evening after I'd fallen asleep on the couch from exhaustion.
W?HAT!!?? she bellowed. Did you say BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP??!!
As I picked myself up off the floor and brushed Cupcake footprints from my abdomen, I explained that the organization she wanted to have nothing to do with did in fact have an online book discussion group and that the first book on the list was the Lightning Thief.
Well.
Cupcake joined that group the instant it came online. She prepared her comments in advance. She stalked other members. She fretted and nagged that our trip to Israel would interfere critically with her ability to get online while the discussion group was in session.
Luckily for her, we had a hotel with WiFi and she'd just happened to bring along her laptop.
And all that invective about testing and gifted programs?
She was all:
