Seven-year-old Nolan would regularly come home with notes from school about his incessant chatter. He loved socializing so much that he?d rush through his classwork to gab with his pals, eventually leading his teacher to seat him next to her and give him extra projects to prevent the disruptions. ?The talking starts from the moment he gets up in the morning, and it never stops,? says Nolan?s mom, Shannon Searle.
Fellow Calgarian Renae Espey can relate. Her eight-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn, is so talkative in class that her teacher developed a hand signal to indicate when she needs to cut out the chit-chat. ?When the teacher told me she has a ?system? with Kaitlyn,? says the mother of two, ?I said, ?Oh, my God, she?s gotten to the point where she needs a system.?? Children with lots to say often have great qualities?both Espey and Searle describe their kids as friendly, bright and outgoing?but they may have a hard time listening or being quiet, and are prone to interrupting others. This can be a problem, especially when a talkative kid has a less verbose sibling, a situation with which Espey is familiar. Her six-year-old son, Sean, is more introverted and often has trouble getting a word in edgewise with his older sister stealing the spotlight. Espey?s solution is to have her children take turns telling their stories. ?The tricky part with Kaitlyn is that she tends to ramble, so sometimes I need to set time limits so Sean gets a turn,? she says.
Gabby kids can drive Mom and...