stage mothers

Last night I watched the documentary Spellbound. It follows 8 children as they prepare for the 1999 National Spelling Bee. They're all very much supported by their parents and teachers, some to what I'd consider a normal degree, others to an extreme. One kid in particular had tutors in three languages as well as a normal spelling tutor. His grandfather agreed to feed 5000 people (in India) if the kid won the bee.

Some of the children seemed to be fairly normal, like the smart kids I went to school with, and others were freaky freaks, like they might be the ones to go crazy and blow people away because they were picked on so much, or get bound up in their hyper-intelligence and become unable to function in "normal" society.

Watching the bee itself was nerve-wracking for me. I wasn't rooting for any particular child but each time one of them came up my heart would beat a little faster and I'd be trying to spell along with them. It makes me wonder what I'd be like if I had a smart kid. Would I push him to compete? Would I let her choose her own activities or make her take piano lessons, ballet and gymnastics just because I never got to? (note: I did take violin & cello lessons and I played softball--I wasn't neglected or anything)