The Children Chapter began, quite simply, because I couldn’t find what I was looking for.

Parenting Roman has been the most astonishing, humbling and expansive experience of my life. From a very early age, his development wasn’t just advanced – it was different in kind. He wasn’t simply ahead of the curve; he was operating in a way that felt qualitatively more complex, emotionally attuned and intellectually layered than anything I’d read in the usual parenting guides. It quickly became clear that the typical developmental timelines didn’t apply but that didn’t mean I immediately had the language or framework to describe what was happening.

In the beginning, finding stories from other families with similar experiences was incredibly difficult. I combed through the internet (like Facebook groups), typing in tag words, hoping to stumble across something that resembled our reality. It often felt fragmented – snippets of brilliance buried beneath long threads and very few examples of whole-child development that looked like Roman’s. It wasn’t until I read Dr. Ruf’s book that something truly resonated. Her developmental profiles gave structure to what I was intuitively sensing and as far as I can tell, Roman fits quite naturally into one of those levels.

I created The Children Chapter to make space for that kind of clarity and connection. Not just about giftedness as a concept, but giftedness as it plays out – day by day – in real family life. A space where early literacy, existential questions, sensory preferences, emotional depth and humour can all live together. A place for puzzles on the floor and poetry before bed. For those of us choosing home education not to reject schooling, but because we’re following a child who is learning faster, deeper, or just differently.

This isn’t a blog about giftedness as a label – it’s about giftedness as a lens. A way of seeing childhood with honesty and complexity, without comparison or apology. It’s also a personal record: a way of documenting Roman’s early years and the questions and joys that fill them. If you’re here because you’ve felt something similar – welcome. I hope this space offers the insight I once searched so hard for.