Another post got me thinking....

[kelleygirl76]

About breast milk vs. formula and intelligence and all.  (run on sentence fragment, I know.)  My personal opinion on intelligence and scholastic achievement is somewhere along the lines of "if you have smart, hard-working parents, you are more apt to be a successful adult."  I know, everyone has a story about someone that came up from nothing and had no father and a mother on crack, and now they're a millionaire.  But, it doesn't typically happen. 

What do y'all think?  What makes someone smart?  My husband likes to tell me I only have book sense, and I have no "street" smarts.  My dad is one of those "Jack of All Trades" guys.  That  goes to work in a tie, but can rebuild your engine.  And my husband, while he isn't the most book smart guy in the world, is one of the hardest working people I know.  Oh, and I should also mention that my senior class valedictorian lives with his sister and is unemployed.

I think this is a real debatable issue.  What is smart?  And how much does that matter if you're just going to be lazy?  I know quite a few college graduates that can't half-way form a sentence.  And I know some high school dropouts (my cousin for one) that are geniuses.

[kelleygirl76]

BUMP

[missamanda86]

This is just my personal opinion, but i think that a persons intelligent is more evident when they are worked with more...for example, my oldest Ds...hes 5 and my 2 year old talks better than him...his BM would put him in front of the TV just so she didnt (doesnt) have to deal with him...my 2 year old and i read, color, play, do colors and shapes, etc...and she seems more intelligent than her brother where that is concerned... does that make sense? Basically, the more you work with your child, the smarter they may be (not saying anything about developmental delays, handicaps, etc)

I honestly think it has nothing to do with BM or formula...i was FF and was just like my DD at her age, and my sister was BF'd and is just as smart as me (well not so much anymore due to dope) and my brother was BF and FF, and there is no difference...while I am book smart, i couldnt stand the thought of college...my sister is street smart (ran away from my dad at 14 and has been livin on her own for the last 6 years), she dropped out of high school her freshman year...my brother is a typical teenager lol

[tjroberts]

bumping for now but let me think and ill try to be back 

[prayingforsnow]

My father is brilliant, but isn't setting the world on fire with his street smarts (though at this point, he is worldly). My mother is the opposite- street smarts out the wazoo, very artistic, but not traditionally book smart. I am and have always been exactly like my father.

However, I attribute most of my scholastic achievement to my mom reading to me and helping me learn to read at a VERY early age- she started reading to me before I was a year old, and I could read simple books like Berenstein Bears or Dr. Seuss by age 3. That always gave me a head up on most of my classmates and I am so grateful to her for that.

Then, both of my parents always stressed that I would go to college- there was never any question- they told me that I could do or be most anything. I think all of that helped me succeed academically as much as my genes. However, they wholly failed me in the nitty-gritty street smarts department, LOL. ;)

I was formula fed.

[kelleygirl76]

I know what you mean.  My sister got her MD at 26 (after having 2 kids....she's had 2 more since then) and while she is very brilliant, she's never been very street smart.  And while she excelled in math and science, never did much better than average in english or arts classes.  She seriously thought Chicago was a state. 

I was always the "smartest" one but I never tried.  I would always get the prgress reports home, "kelley's smart, but she doesn't pay attention,"  Or "very bright, but lazy."  I hated school.  I dropped out of college after 2 years. 

BUT, I found a job I like, make decent money and I'm happy and successful.  But, I'm not "rich" with money like my sister. 

Quoting prayingforsnow:

My father is brilliant, but isn't setting the world on fire with his street smarts (though at this point, he is worldly). My mother is the opposite- street smarts out the wazoo, very artistic, but not traditionally book smart. I am and have always been exactly like my father.

However, I attribute most of my scholastic achievement to my mom reading to me and helping me learn to read at a VERY early age- she started reading to me before I was a year old, and I could read simple books like Berenstein Bears or Dr. Seuss by age 3. That always gave me a head up on most of my classmates and I am so grateful to her for that.

Then, both of my parents always stressed that I would go to college- there was never any question- they told me that I could do or be most anything. I think all of that helped me succeed academically as much as my genes. However, they wholly failed me in the nitty-gritty street smarts department, LOL. ;)

I was formula fed.

[kelleygirl76]

BUMP!!! 

[mommasbabies77]

I think intelligence can be alot of things. You can be intelligent and know everything there is to know in a book. You can be intelligent and never pick up a book but figure out thing on your own(this is my husband).

I don't think that intelligence comes from whether you had smart parents because although I might not be the brightest light in the chandelier I am also not the dimmest.

My father is illiterate and only went to the 3rd grade. My mother made it to the 8th I think.

[prayingforsnow]

Our families sound similar...my aunt is an anesthesiologist and I'm a writer...our smarts, and the ways in which we excel, are very different. I was always the "bright, but lazy" student and my aunt worked her ass off to accomplish every goal she set. But we're both intelligent, it's just a different approach to application. :) She's very street smart and worldly, but I'm more people smart...these differences are precious to me because we can help each other out in different ways.

Quoting kelleygirl76:

I know what you mean.  My sister got her MD at 26 (after having 2 kids....she's had 2 more since then) and while she is very brilliant, she's never been very street smart.  And while she excelled in math and science, never did much better than average in english or arts classes.  She seriously thought Chicago was a state. 

I was always the "smartest" one but I never tried.  I would always get the prgress reports home, "kelley's smart, but she doesn't pay attention,"  Or "very bright, but lazy."  I hated school.  I dropped out of college after 2 years. 

BUT, I found a job I like, make decent money and I'm happy and successful.  But, I'm not "rich" with money like my sister. 

Quoting prayingforsnow:

My father is brilliant, but isn't setting the world on fire with his street smarts (though at this point, he is worldly). My mother is the opposite- street smarts out the wazoo, very artistic, but not traditionally book smart. I am and have always been exactly like my father.

However, I attribute most of my scholastic achievement to my mom reading to me and helping me learn to read at a VERY early age- she started reading to me before I was a year old, and I could read simple books like Berenstein Bears or Dr. Seuss by age 3. That always gave me a head up on most of my classmates and I am so grateful to her for that.

Then, both of my parents always stressed that I would go to college- there was never any question- they told me that I could do or be most anything. I think all of that helped me succeed academically as much as my genes. However, they wholly failed me in the nitty-gritty street smarts department, LOL. ;)

I was formula fed.

[kelleygirl76]

But does their lack of success in school make them unintelligent?  My grandfather never made it past 3 grade.  But he was smart (at least I think so.)  He couldn't read or write very well, but he was a very gifted carpenter (and amateur architect, he built 3 houses on his blue prints alone.)

Quoting mommasbabies77:

I think intelligence can be alot of things. You can be intelligent and know everything there is to know in a book. You can be intelligent and never pick up a book but figure out thing on your own(this is my husband).

I don't think that intelligence comes from whether you had smart parents because although I might not be the brightest light in the chandelier I am also not the dimmest.

My father is illiterate and only went to the 3rd grade. My mother made it to the 8th I think.