There's a particular kind of panic that sets in when a parent first realises their child isn't just bright but genuinely, noticeably ahead of where kids their age usually are. Maybe it's a teacher pulling you aside after class, or your five-year-old suddenly reading chapter books that seven-year-olds struggle with, and suddenly you're googling "gifted child" at 11 p.m., trying to figure out what you're supposed to do now. The tricky part is that good intentions don't always translate into good decisions here, and plenty of well-meaning parents end up making choices that, years later, they wish they'd approached differently. Here are seven common mistakes parents make once they realise their child is exceptionally gifted, and why they tend to backfire more often than people expect.