The more confidence I've gained in life, the less I ever feel the need to show off. Also, I hang out with people (you guys included) who are brilliant about a large variety of things. Helps keep me britches on straight.

There's so much power in just staying silent sometimes, even when you know the answer. When I learned that, life got a lot more enjoyable for me (and for everyone around me, most likely).

I want to frame this and hang it on my classroom wall. It was a lesson I had to learn the hard way, too.

The more confidence I've gained in life, the less I ever feel the need to show off.

Also, this.

And Aims, I didn't really read until some time in 1st grade (which was not unusual back then, I guess), and look at me now. I suspect Em will be just fine.

I do think limiting her screen time would help, though. We got 2-3 fuzzy stations (no cable, middle of nowhere) and didn't have a VHS until I was 10. Reading was my best escape once I figured it out.

I have my latest Massive Book always sitting in the bathroom doorway ready for my next visit. Currently, it's a Clancy tome, but I just bought George Lucas's Blockbusting, which is much better for short reading stints.

The one event in my childhood that sticks out to me was when I was 8 years old and in the hospital recovering from abdominal surgery (the ureter thing Askye and I were talking about yesterday).

After the surgery, I had a tube running from each kidney to a urine collection bag hanging from my IV stand. I asked a ton of questions about how everything worked and thought it was awesome how the tubes crossed in the middle of my body so the one coming out on the lefthand side was for the right kidney and vice versa.

When it was time to pull out one of the tubes (just one - the other kidney wasn't healing as well), the urologist came into my room and started to pull one out and I, 8 years old, recovering from surgery, and drugged to the eyeballs on painkillers, piped up and said "That's the wrong one."

And I was absolutely right. I don't even want to think about the damage that could have been done to my kidneys if I hadn't said anything. My mother went justifiably ballistic at the hospital administration after that.

I will leave it to you to make assumptions on how this experience affected my ego going forward.

The more confidence I've gained in life, the less I ever feel the need to show off.

I never thought of it as showing off; if someone says something incorrect, and no one corrects them, then I do. Because -- well, shouldn't people know correct information?

Oh, god. I'm a pain-in-the-ass knowitall. Hell.

But I can't just let incorrect information sit there like that!

There is no mindfuck quite like being special needs AND gifted. That constant pendulum between "You're great and special and inspiring." and "Fuckin' freak," is why Billy Walsh makes me blush. We're related. except I never:
-won Sundance(or at least not at 24)
-did a speedball
-spent the rent money at the track
But suits do totally suck. Although my new shirt says "Working Class Hero" instead of "Suits Suck" And I totally do that "I'm great/ I'm shit" thing like Billy.

I never thought of it as showing off; if someone says something incorrect, and no one corrects them, then I do. Because -- well, shouldn't people know correct information?

No, I'm talking more about needing to be the first one with the answer in a setting (offline or on).

My kindergarten teacher didn't believe I could read, insisted that I had just memorized the books. I just shrugged, whatever. Then came the time to send home progress notes to the parents. So, I read the notes to the kids so they would know what they said. When the teacher saw the commotion and saw what was happening, there was a big to-do. They called my mother and said "Stephanie can read!" And she said "yes, she told you that."

I never thought of it as showing off; if someone says something incorrect, and no one corrects them, then I do. Because -- well, shouldn't people know correct information?

No, I'm talking more about needing to be the first one with the answer in a setting (offline or on).

Oh. Well, I do kind of like that, too. But my "need to be right" isn't a need to be first; just a need to, well, be right.

And I was absolutely right. I don't even want to think about the damage that could have been done to my kidneys if I hadn't said anything. My mother went justifiably ballistic at the hospital administration after that.

Wow. Just. Wow. Your mother had every right to be ballistic.

Kind of reminds me of the scene in Catch-22 where the nurses (purposefully) go in and switch the med IV bag with the catheter output bag!!