Will is nearing eighteen months old, and it’s become increasingly clear that a few things in particular really get my kiddo excited. Things he notices, asks for, and has me asking myself – how do you know when something is an innate talent or when is it a part of normal growth and development? There are all sorts of developmental timelines available, which mark when children learn and progress – but all of the research I’ve done doesn’t point to knowing, at this early age, whether something means ‘talent’ or ‘genius’ or just ‘normal.’
Not that I think Will is a genius. I mean, there are legit baby geniuses out there, speaking full sentences before they’re one – but Will isn’t that. But he is showing signs of some affinity to a few things in particular – namely, music.
This kid adores music. Beyond a seemingly normal amount. He asks for it, notices the pause between songs and asks for ‘more’ immediately, and I’m pretty sure the only reason he has any desire for television shows is because they have theme songs and lots of music within them. There’s the typical toddler-music affinity stuff – he loves being sung to before going in his crib at night, and a favorite distraction for the dreaded diaper change is singing “Wheels on the Bus” or the ABCs. And then there’s more. He’s starting to sing along, he actively seeks out music and will choose it over other things. We often stream music through our TV while we play at home, and he’ll stop in the middle of whatever he’s doing when he notices a longer pause between the songs. A dead stop; I hadn’t even noticed the music had ended, but he will!
Some things tell me it could be a sign – but it could also just be normal at this age, like the love of dancing toddlers have at this age. I mean, what toddler hasn’t loved Adele’s Hello every time it popped on the radio this past year? It sure quiets my kid pretty immediately.
As Will gets older though, I realize that it’s on me to notice and nurture anything that might be more than expected. I am not a musical person by nature – beyond not being able to carry a tune in a bucket, music has never been something that speaks to my soul in the way that other things do. That might be why I notice Will’s love of it so acutely. I want to do anything I can to encourage whatever his talents and loves might be – but I’m also intensely aware that I’m completely over-reading this and any over-attention I show to something he likes could actually create an affinity or inclination. Does Will love trains because he just does and would no matter what, or does he because we showed him some Thomas the Train episodes and expected that, as a little boy, he’d eventually get into trains, cars, and planes? It’s a delicate balance – I’d hate to misread his love of picking up sticks as a sign that he’s going to be an outdoorsy kid and force the kid to go camping for years.
the kid does LOVE playing outside.
I’d love to hear from other parents – does your kid have a natural affinity for something? Has it turned into a full on talent as they reach school age? If you have a toddler like me, do they LOVE music like Will or something else?
pear / 1648 posts
My 17 month old is a music lover as well (DH is a music teacher/musician, so big surprise). She LOVES to sing and knows about 30-50% of the actual words to most of her toddler songs, which amazes me – she’ll “sing” along to the rest of the song with just sounds.
There is one Raffi song that has deliberate pauses – she’s made a game to say ‘uh oh!’ whenever he pauses which still amuses me months later
DH’s biggest fear was that she would be tone deaf – I think we’re safe!
guest
from early on my little guy has shown a real affinity for music…he’s constantly singing and oftentimes we find him imitating the sound of water dripping or the dishwasher humming.
grapefruit / 4923 posts
i think all toddlers have their interests, and my hunch is that because of the way their brains work and how they develop cognitively/physically/etc that they will take an interest and run to the moon with it. it’s fun to see my LO enjoying books right now, but i don’t take much from it. i’d be concerned if he weren’t showing a special interest in anything. i guess i lean on the side that it’s an interest and part of normal development, not necessarily a talent.
although there is that theory that if you do something for 10,000 hours (or something like that), you’ll be “talented” at it no matter what.
i’ll start logging LO’s reading hours. ha! just kidding.
hostess / cantaloupe / 6486 posts
@edelweiss: I agree with you. I think its normal for toddlers to find a “thing” and glom on it for a while. It just so hard to tell when they’re this little.
blogger / nectarine / 2043 posts
My 2.5 year old is very musically inclined (so says my mom, anyway) and has a lot of similar traits you’re describing, has very strong body movement skills (she’s tiny for her age and can do gymnastics moves that are fairly advanced, I’m guessing because she’s pretty light) and she freaks me out a little bit with how fast she can put a jigsaw puzzle together. I’m a cynic by nature so I always try to write it off as just strengths and may or may not be more, and we’ve just tried to match some activities to her interests to see if anything pops. She has a music class at daycare that she enjoys (we don’t see it so I’m not sure if there’s anything talent oriented coming out there), and she goes to a toddler gymnastics class once a week. Her teacher there told us that we should put her in one level higher in the spring based on her abilities so maybe I’ll end up being a gymnastics mom, who knows. For now I think the best we can do is observe, nurture and see what happens.
apricot / 317 posts
You never know…my DS1 is definitely NOT a “genius”, but he is well ahead of his age mates in several areas and we did start noticing differences before he turned 2. We noticed that he had a significantly longer attention span than normal, very specific interests, and that he was extraordinarily observant. There’s nothing wrong with following and encouraging a child’s interests at any age…just be willing to be flexible if/when their interests change. I found that Montessori philosophies/activities worked extremely well with my son when he was toddler age.
blogger / kiwi / 675 posts
My husband and I have long wondered about our oldest who started speaking extremely early, we have her recorded at 2 months saying “hi dad” which really startled us. By 7 months she could speak very well. She definitely is gifted at art and verbalizing. She often asks us world view questions which are hard for us to answer… anyway, we had thought about having her tested but don’t want to push her too hard. We will continue to nurture her talents and see where she naturally leads us. Very interesting topic though and thank you for the links.
blogger / apricot / 310 posts
@peachykeen: Will just started singing along and it’s my favorite thing! I think I harbored the same fear your husband did, because I suck at singing. ha!
@Mrs. Sunshine and @edelweiss: LOL I love it. I think I really agree – I definitely didn’t expect, at this age, for there to be one thing that my little guy so strongly prefers for such an extended amount of time.
@Mrs. Carrot: I love that approach. Providing opportunities for an interest to be explored seems right up my alley and parenting thoughts. Thanks!
@tlynne: So true! I need to research more about true Montessori approaches and methods – and then get my partner on board with instituting some!
@Mrs. Palette: Holy cow! That’s amazing! Have you shared some of those stories here yet? I hesitated writing this, as I didn’t want it to seem that my child was ‘special’ but rather open the discussion about what seemed like a stronger-than-expected affinity at such a young age. But your kiddo sounds legit genius!
For everyone: read this article from NYTimes just this weekend and made me think of this topic and encouraging creativity/interests in general: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/opinion/sunday/how-to-raise-a-creative-child-step-one-back-off.html?_r=0