On making a record.

Childhood only happens once. My children will grow up and become adults in a time too brief to truly comprehend. I cannot believe that Ainan has just turned 12, for instance, a few weeks ago. He is getting so tall – indeed he is challenging his mother, in stature. Yet, to me, I still see the baby in him, first peering at the world, in infinite curiosity. It seems but an instant, in which his entire life has been compressed, and in which he has expanded to his present height, personality and intellect.

Childhood speeds by so quickly – it is like lightning – it flashes and then it is gone. That is why I have written, almost daily, these past five years or more, to create a record of my impressions of my children, as they grow up. I have no such document for my own childhood. Very few people do, I imagine. Yet, when my children are adult, I will be able to show them their childhoods, as I witnessed them, felt them, thought of them, all those years ago. That is why I write – and that is why what I write is important. It serves two primary purposes – it keeps those in our family and circle of friends, acquainted with the latest developments in our children’s lives and it also will, one day, become a source of much self-knowledge, for my children – for they will get to see themselves as they were seen, by me (and my wife).

Some people don’t understand why I write this blog – particularly strangers, who might read it. I have decided to make this a public blog, because I am a writer, too. My understandings of family life, are the material I draw on – and I am sharing that, as a means to express what I come to learn. So, in that sense, it forms a different kind of record – a record of my thoughts, on childhood, children and family. At the time of writing, this may not seem an important thing to do – but I think that, one day, it shall be of interest to those who are interested in my work. You see, I have written many things, too, that have not yet been published. Those works are likely to be of wider interest. People who like those books, may wish to understand their writer, better. They will find this blog of some value in that regard. So, to give perspective to my other works, I write a public blog, which can express something of who I am and what I understand. In time, there will be people who appreciate that I have taken the time to write, as I have. Of course, some people already appreciate that I am taking the time, regularly, to write my thoughts, on many matters, not just family life.

It is my intention to record the childhood of my sons until they have grown up. I hope that they see value in the efforts I have made, one day. I know that I would very much value such a record of my own childhood, were it to exist. I cannot say who else will value these words. I write for those who do. Thank you.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

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To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

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Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

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The Author's Purpose in Writing

One of my readers has observed that not all of my posts are on giftedness. This is how I intend it to be. Yet, their comment led me to think I should explain why I write what I do.

My first purpose in writing is to communicate my understanding of giftedness and what I learn and observe from my children (and from my own life), as examples of this phenomenon. I think this helps young parents faced with their first gifted child get to grips with some of the issues they will face. So, in that sense, my writing fulfils a social objective of supporting others in a similar or somehow analogous situation. All giftedness leads to varying degrees of the issues discussed on my blog pages and so any parent of a gifted child can better prepare themselves for what lies ahead by coming to know what one parent of gifted children has had to go through.

That is clear and probably understood without stating it - but I thought it better to make it explicit. There are, however, other purposes in writing. I wish to record my children as they grow up, so that I might enjoy their childhood many years from now, when, perhaps the details would otherwise have been lost to my, then, aging mind. It is, therefore, an investment in my future contentment at the parenting life I have led.

A further purpose is to explore and record the personality of my children - so not just looking at their giftedness, but recording anecdotes which show them as they are, which reveal something of their personality aside and apart from their giftedness. This was not understood by the reader who mailed me. He expected all posts to illustrate giftedness - but this is not so - and why should it be? There are more aspects to a gifted child than simple giftedness: there is their developing personality, funny moments, sweet acts, thoughtful deeds, developmental milestones, their interests and hobbies, their outlook and viewpoints, their friends, their loves and their lives (all later on, one would think).

A gifted child is so much more than a gift - and so a blog about gifted children - as mine is, should also be so much more than just about giftedness - and so it is. In some posts, a broader view of my children is evident. Glimpses of their personality and individuality are to be seen. It is these, in some ways, which are more important to capture. It is these aspects of them which make them unique.

I also wish to write in a more scholarly fashion, at times, looking at the literature on giftedness, genius, prodigy, intelligence, creativity, left-handedness, child development and the like. My purpose is to distill the essence of this work to make it readily digestible to all, so that my readers might be better informed of the scientific understanding of all things gifted.

On other occasions, I write of issues that seem to have some social importance, not just to gifted people, but to society in general. This is an important function which allows me to express my views on wider matters in the world. Elements of myself are to be found in such posts.

I also write of countries that I know personally - these include Singapore, the UK, Ireland, and the USA - the four countries with which I am most familiar. My view on all such matters, is that I would always like to see improvements in each society - so if I discuss one, it would usually be to address something which could be done better.

I take no political views, in this blog, but that doesn't mean I can't comment on something a politician does or says. There is no intent to take a political stand in doing so.

I hope that goes some way to explaining what I write and why.

Happy reading all.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eleven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and four months, and Tiarnan, twenty-one months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)