hi,just found this forum after I was paid memberand was searching around. I have a 7 yr.old dd that is "gifted" loose term kinda like I. q. tests .she was born and early on was in daycare and never in pre k or little kids programs and we were very afraid that she would not know enough it turned out she knew to much . that said she was read to before birth and every day since then she started reading and spelling at 4 reading past k at 5 and entered k at 6 and it was then that we realized she knew all of this stuff literally shoot she knew all the prices in the shopping cart at 5 and they were counting to ten, they were working on abc 123 and she was spelling compound words whew . I read all of the folks responses here and learn from all .I like the word advanced . although true genius is out there it is rare and if it is genetic how many folks are never seen or "never made it out of the trailer park". this happens to women more as they are impregnated and become mothers and slaves to their children . we are blessed although she could have recieved more attention and it took past the first 9 wks of kindergarten the system here weeds these kids out and they are transferred in to a "gifted setting . meaning she starts school in a 1st grade class then spends 4 hrs a day in another class with only 7 other kids from different ages . and one teacher, in days of under staffed schools this is like a parents dream .and although I don,t feel she is moving fast enough she gets one on one .I know that sounded bad but I still don,t feel the teacher quite has a grasp on what all she knows academically. to help answer the question the answers about finding the best of the best and start there are solid. also you don,t state what leads you to think this kid is "gifted " does she just naturally act smarter than her peers is she advanced like my kid . is she counting stars . I would also like to touch on another touchy subject I am now leaning towards the idea that add is present in my d.d. and this is something I said before she was born if people thought this she would not go on meds .I say this about her only because after watching some t.v commercials my wife referred me to aadd website and slowly after about a yr. of learning, I am the poster child for this "disorder" and my daughter has a lot of my characterristics . and although not nearly as hyper or busy as I was she does a lot of the same things I did I am still learning on this one .and frankly it scares me because it is like a big book was opened explaining some of what I have done and do and why and then complicates it further looking at my daughters angle. I am 41 and was mostly ignored or put to back of the class when I was young because of a lot of the things I heard described here. correcting teachers when your 9 doesnt get you brownie pts.and was constantly pressed to show my work when I could not do it on paper but could think of it and then write it down I speed read and read books backwards I did not know this was not normal until last yr. the reason I include myself is I probably have an Iq in the very high category and was gifted as a child although not recogognized and I always knew I was smarter I just got ignored or so much was expected of me that I just rebelled. I quit school at 16 and aced the state test and ged test they thought I cheated somehow and I took it twice scoring higher the second time I turned to drugs and alcohol and joined the navy at 17 same thing I scored so high on the tests that they tried to put me in a lot of jobs that I could not handle . the nuke sub program for a teen hippie ,yeah right . and although I am good at every thing I try I technically don,t have a trade . although I do have 10 1/2 yrs. sobriety. the reason I included that was to show how quickly you can lose the game as parents I was bored and needed things to do to see different things and while someone was very strongly urging me to stay inside of the box I was figuring a way out and should have died many times while thinking I was smarter than them. I don,t claim to know much about parenting ,it is a learning game I do know if you read to your kids they will be smarter than your neighbors kid. and I,m teaching my d.d. to use her knowledge and teach her friend the stuff she allready knows and take something from your friend because no one knows it all . just make sure you are not doing this for your self and be willing to take it all the way . sorry so long but I have a lot of questions also .Rick In wichita

Michelle, The andes chips are not what I expected. They are the texture and firmness of chocolate bark. They look great on chocolate cookies, but I was disappointed that the package depicts them as crisply white and red. Not a chance. You can find them in the baking supply area (at least at Walmart). More runny pink. But thanks for the compliments. Jo

There is a small stand who sets up at our local mall each Christmas and they sell all sorts of Calendars. There are usually three or four Quilt-themed wall calendars in the mix with beautiful blocks on each page. My heart sings when I see them and what a wonderful and useful item to set in a sewing room, or even a kitchen in a quilter's house. They run a little more than ten dollars, but when you factor in the fuel it takes looking for a gift in a specific range, you're usually better off going a little more if you find 'just the right thing' than half a tank of gas. That works for me, lol. For my b'day last month, I asked for a LARGE pin cusion. I was getting so frustrated with the tiny cushions one usually finds in places like fabric stores. We quilters use a lot of pins at any given time and I used to have to have two boxes of pins and pin cushion handy on my ironing board and near my sewing machine. My dd found a big, fat pincushion and it's just what I wanted. Ditto on the retractable tape measure. I carry one in my purse my husband gave me and it comes in handy often. Also things like a bias cone for making your own bias. All three are prolly less than ten dollars apiece.

I assume that since it's couples there's no kids involved unless you're from the south somewhere! ;) And if you know the Springer 800 number I *don't* want to know about it! For a generic gift often something like a bottle of wine, a jug of booze, gift cards or the like are good. Basket of good chocolates with some cheese, crackers, sausage type things are usually good. For gift cards I really encourage using the prepaid credit cards rather than a specific place card. That way if they need gas, would like to go out, need groceries, would like to rent movies or even if they want to put it toward a new TV, it'll usually work rather than having to make a point of going to a particular place and spend that amount. The other thing could be a gift certificate for Amazon, Netflix or something. Gifts are so unique to the person the only real generic ones are going to be cash, food or booze. Hopefully they're not too picky. Unless you're doing a key exchange! ;)