Family Origins and Parenting Insights - Gary Sheng, Lael Alexander & Veronica Alexander

Date: June 6, 2025 Participants: Gary Sheng, Lael Alexander, Veronica Alexander (Lael's mother) Context: Gary's introduction to Lael's family background and maternal perspective on Lael's development Duration: Extended family conversation exploring childhood development, family values, and educational philosophy

Executive Summary

Gary Sheng conducted an in-depth conversation with Lael Alexander and his mother Veronica Alexander, gaining crucial insights into Lael's exceptional childhood development, family background, and the generational transformation that shaped his character. The conversation revealed Veronica's sophisticated parenting approach to raising an off-the-charts gifted child, the Alexander family's multi-generational rise from sharecroppers to successful entrepreneurs, and critical perspectives on contemporary education. Key themes included Lael's early intellectual dominance, the importance of libraries as educational centers, family work ethic preservation, and strategic approaches to nurturing exceptional talent.

Lael's Exceptional Childhood Development

Early Intelligence Recognition and Testing

Off-the-Charts IQ Results:

Veronica: "At one time, um, they brought me to, um a child psychiatrist and they and they had to my IQ test, so I tested off the charts and my IQ test. paperwork it in Bible."

Child Psychologist Dependency: The conversation revealed an extraordinary incident where Lael's exceptional intelligence led to professional boundary issues:

Veronica: "And then and then the person that was the actual child psychologist, like the third visit. I was handling the sessions... By the middle of the school year the guy retired and wrote a letter back to us saying um that whenever he whenever he got to a point in his career that he depended on a patient. he realized that he shouldn't have been in this profession. because as a kid, I'm now giving him advice."

Multitasking and Attention Patterns

Classroom Behavior:

Veronica: "Even when he was in class, uh he would be sitting he would be sitting looking at the teacher and playing with some little toys mother and seat. In other words, he he'd have his no little little toys, little little different, the right, and they would be under the seat and he's he's playing with his army curtain looking at the teacher."

Octopus Arms Metaphor: Veronica developed a memorable metaphor for Lael's multitasking abilities:

Veronica: "I used to tell them all the time that uh that uh octopus performs I always I always labeled him as having octopus arms because he was always doing more than one thing at one time." Gary: "So we call that multi threaded processing now. It's quantum." Lael: "Usual visual was having octopus arms because it all trying to do ten things that once."

Independent Decision-Making from Early Age

Grade Placement Resistance: The conversation revealed Lael's early determination to control his own educational path:

Veronica: "I get mathemat rather than just enhancing his skel, he act actually put him in a grave ire that he was supposed to be just which he were going in from uh going into seventh grade. and they put you in the eighth grade and he decided he didn't wanna do that. So he's like, uh, no, that's not where I'm supposed to be. I want to go back to."

Daily School Battles:

Veronica: "So every every other day I was gonna get a call from the secretary of the school telling me that we had to go and get them out of one class and put them in another class. That that was how determined he was to do what he wanted to."

Master of His Own Mind:

Veronica: "Male always has has kind of like the master of his own mind. or even though, you know, adults might wanna, you know, take the ring and say, well, Leo, maybe you ought to be doing this because this makes better sense to you. He always felt like you, what do you should be doing for himself."

Parenting Challenges and Strategies

Traditional Punishment Ineffectiveness

Room Confinement Failure:

Gary: "How how could they punish you when you were a kid?" Veronica: "Sending me to my room. Would that would that be a punishment for me? what was, no punishment... Oh, no, I'm going to my room. No."

Room Cleaning Redefinition:

Lael: "Clean your room. So what what happens when you say the room I'll move the room. I'll change the entire room. because it like, what do you mean clean it? Oh, and you want me to clean it, that means you want me to retool it."

Authority Struggles and Maternal Response

Mother's Non-Surrender Philosophy:

Veronica: "No, no, my mama's mama's don't surrenders. Mother's do. No, you have no respect. They have no respect authority because you know, have to you know have a have a tough time at it, but it was always a constant battle, you know, um you know, trying to help him to understand who was was the authority. and this house."

Acknowledgment of Challenge:

Veronica: "I think you got the best of me a little bit. I think you got the best of me, though when went uh when I was laying on a sofa and I and I and I couldn't couldn't do anything."

Parenting Advice for Gary

Patience and Focus Management:

Veronica: "I I I would say that you you have to be patient and you you're gonna have to um find a way to to to keep him still because he has a tendency to to be uh uh working on several things at one time."

Family Generational Transformation

From Sharecroppers to Success

Historical Foundation:

Veronica: "My was uh sharecroppers. My dad and them were masons. So, both of those were pretty honor honorable because sharecoppers were they took care of themselves, and the masons had technology, they took care of themselves. They weren't beholding to anyone. They weren't on someone else's slaves plantation."

Multi-Generational Advancement:

Veronica: "My mom going to college and sending all of her siblings to college. And then my mom building her house and then helping all of her siblings built all of their houses, you know what I mean? So they they they purchased the street that we lived on... And now off four of my mother's kids got living mansions. That's just two generations. It's like boom boom."

Work Ethic and Entrepreneurial Legacy

Multi-Talented Parents:

Veronica: "My father was a construction worker, so he worked in construction up until September in time frame in a year and and in September he stopped working destructive, and when itained, we did a supercave... my father law um build houses, you know, uh did uh brick uh, you know grocery stores, everything."

Entrepreneurial DNA:

Veronica: "So it was absolutely root in my jeans, right? to be that entrepreneurial. But but that's uh that's what you try to protect. That's part of the legacy that try to protect the the seed of the work engine is more important to protect than what these kids define as their sanity right now."

Lael's Competitive Drive

Surpassing Family Success:

Lael: "I looked at my uncles and I was like, I wanna do better than them. So everything that they worked for, I owned... You work for a construction coming, I own a construction company. You work for engineering company? I own it engineering company. You like doing restaurants, I own these restaurants... I didn't lead none of them out. I wanted to I wanted I' do them all."

Community Support and Understanding

Village Recognition of Talent

Community Awareness:

Veronica: "I didn't think that he was misood? I don't think they understand how much I misunderstood. That's the thing. I don't misunderstood. I have a problem. Okay. I didn't think it was a problem, you know? everybody and everybody in my hometown knew that I had a I was something different. They knew I had a talent."

Unprecedented Nature of Talent:

Veronica: "They but they hadn't scenes they didn't know how to really treat with that talent because they hadn't seen that type of thing before, neither. So it was new... you can't you can't blame that village for anything, because they did a phenomenal job."

Family Exposure Strategy

Intentional Cultural Enrichment:

Veronica: "One of the things that the Alexander family did that mom and dad tried to do was to expose the children to uh things outside of our our our own our own area, our own culture. uh so so that that they they would have a a rich, a richer experience in life."

Generational Investment:

Veronica: "We we try, you know, and at S as my mom would put it as a I pour a normal family, uh we tried to give you know, gifts to to our kids uh a lot more than than we were able to have for ourselves as we were coming up."

Spiritual Foundation and Naming

Biblical Research Process

Name Selection Methodology:

Veronica: "I did some research in my Bible and in some of my bill typical references I atted some names. I was looking up names to see what the names mean. I looked at names and the meaning of of the various things to where I was in my life. It's my spiritual that's the spiritual part of my life and lay me's child of God."

Prophetic Recognition:

Veronica: "I had a couple of names that uh down and um when I when I saw saw him, and I put Ed Hughes put in my arms, I I knew exactly what what's her name of."

Name Pronunciation and Identity

Simplification to Alexander:

Lael: "I went through all my life with people calling and calling me a different name. People don't wanna talk. They don't wanna call you by. the child of God names... So then they gave up when probably me about my first name and just started calling me with my last name. So it's been Alexander since. I've been the ultimate Alander."

Educational Philosophy and Alpha Schools Critique

Library as Educational Center

Symbolic Importance:

Gary: "Is't that like Supermbolic though that Alpha doesn't have a library?" Veronica: "It just says it just it is so symbolic. It's beyond beyond symbolic... That was the one thing about alpha school that made me realize they don't have a center. cause the library is the center of the school."

Social Media as False Center:

Veronica: "It just you know, the center is, it's social media. Yeah, it's terrible. It's literally Twitter. literally Instagram, literally TikTok."

Lael's Library Affinity

Consistent Pattern:

Veronica: "We we know that he likes libraries. Always it. Always, always, always, always."

Current Generational Concerns

Motivation Decline Worry

Grandchildren's Drive:

Veronica: "Not all them wrong, I'm I'm afraid because my kids don't have the same drive that me and my siblings have.. So, they will probably go back to living like when mom and dad and them dead. Because they don't have to drive that I have to."

Protecting the Work Engine:

Veronica: "That's part of the legacy that try to protect the the seed of the work engine is more important to protect than what these kids define as their sanity right now. It's like, where is your motor? You know what I mean?"

Unfamiliarity with Laziness

No Family Precedent:

Veronica: "That that that motor doesn't look like the motor that I was brought up with is like because I hadn't seen anybody in my family that carried the laziness, uh, or the or the desire not to have, or the desire not to compete or challenge or do. I didn't even know that looked like before."

Internal Obstacles Assessment

Maternal Perspective on Barriers

No Internal Limitations:

Veronica: "I don't I don't really think that Leo has internal obstacles, that keeps them from doing what what he wants to do. I I think for it is just uh it's it's a matter of of timing, number one, and number two, if you see the birds value and what he's gonna be doing."

Value and Purpose Driven:

Veronica: "What is the what is the purpose? Is this that it is gonna be purpos to be? Or is it gonna make sense to me for me to do that? Otherwise, and and I'll give you that then I'll get it'll I'll give you a a specific example of what it."

New Alexandria City Development Connection

Library-Centered Vision

City Naming Significance:

Gary: "Well, we're gonna create a new city called New Alexandria as well." Veronica: "Sounds interesting." Gary: "Well, we we know that he likes libraries."

The connection between Lael's lifelong library affinity and the naming of their planned city "New Alexandria" (after the ancient Library of Alexandria) was noted as symbolically appropriate.

Gary's Family Louisiana Connection

Shared Regional Heritage

Family History:

Gary: "My family started in the US in in Louisiana, LSU. They're from near Beijing, um, did grad school and LisU, and then I was born in rural Illinois. My brother was my my brother was born in Bad Rouge."

Cultural Appreciation:

Gary: "That's why look, to come Louisiana and and take a look and see what is all about, huh? For sure. I would say Gumbo is is one of my favorite foods."

Family Values and Relationships

Grandchildren as Greatest Joy

Highest Blessing:

Gary: "Is there anything greater than having grandchildren?" Veronica: "I't. Yeah. I' I have your own children, having the grandchildren is the best."

Individual Specialness:

Veronica: "My children are all special to me. each one of them. And then each one of their children. you know, it's it's special to me as well... Not a thing. not family is very special, special to my family, so each square child is, you know. they're all all person and they has their own special place."

Cultural and Regional Context

Louisiana Hospitality and Culture

Regional Appreciation:

Veronica: "You don't there? My family started in Louisiana and take a look and see what is all about, huh? For sure."

Cultural Depth Beyond Tourism:

Veronica: "I've only been to like Mardi Gras. that doesn't really count... that't count at all. doesn't come at all. You probably just the weekend not the other... It's a lot more museum's a lot more of the see in New Orleans than moderat guarantee."

Strategic Insights for Working with Lael

Patience and Multi-Threading Management

Key Advice:

Veronica: "I I I would say that you you have to be patient and you you're gonna have to um find a way to to to keep him still because he has a tendency to to be uh uh working on several things at one time."

Value and Purpose Orientation

Decision-Making Framework: Veronica emphasized that Lael's cooperation depends on understanding the value and purpose of activities, not external pressure or authority.

Historical Pattern of Independence

The conversation established that Lael's current independence and determination to control his own agenda has been consistent since childhood, requiring collaborative rather than directive approaches.

Relationship Development

Gary's Integration into Family Network

Mutual Recognition:

Gary: "My name is Gary. um is it's a pleasure to meet you." Lael: "Gary is also a vocationalist, man. He is he's he is a true Christian. uh I mean, he's a warrior."

Ongoing Communication:

Veronica: "You' calling me a lot. really? girl. Sure."

Invitation Extended:

Veronica: "I would say Gumbo is is one of my favorite foods... You don't there? shower? My family started in the US in in Louisiana, LSU."

Key Themes and Strategic Implications

Educational System Design

The conversation reinforced the importance of library-centered educational environments and raised critical questions about the role of social media in contemporary education.

Generational Wealth and Motivation Preservation

Veronica's concerns about maintaining the family's "work engine" across generations highlight broader challenges in sustaining entrepreneurial drive and achievement orientation.

Talent Nurturing Strategies

The Alexander family's approach to raising exceptional children—combining exposure, support, and respect for individual determination—provides a model for educational innovation.

Community Integration and Support

The conversation demonstrated how exceptional individuals require community understanding and support systems that can adapt to unprecedented capabilities.

Future Collaboration Framework

Understanding Lael's Operational Style

Gary gained crucial insights into Lael's need for multitasking environments, value-based decision making, and autonomous operation within collaborative frameworks.

Family Support System

The conversation established Veronica as a key ally in understanding and working effectively with Lael, providing both historical context and ongoing support.

Cultural and Regional Connections

The discovery of shared Louisiana connections and appreciation for regional culture creates additional bonding opportunities and operational understanding.

Notes

This conversation provided Gary with essential intelligence for building a productive working relationship with Lael Alexander. Veronica's perspective as a mother who successfully navigated raising an exceptionally gifted child offers valuable insights into Lael's operational patterns, motivations, and optimal collaboration approaches.

The discussion of the Alexander family's generational transformation from sharecroppers to successful entrepreneurs provides crucial context for understanding the cultural and motivational factors that drive Lael's achievements. Her concerns about preserving this "work engine" across generations align with broader educational and social challenges that both Gary and Lael are working to address.

The critique of Alpha Schools lacking a library demonstrates sophisticated understanding of educational philosophy and reinforces the symbolic importance of their New Alexandria city project being named after the ancient center of learning.

Most significantly, the conversation established Gary as someone who understands and respects the Alexander family values, creating a foundation for long-term collaboration based on shared appreciation for education, faith, and community development.

Key Quotes

On Lael's Exceptional Intelligence:

Veronica: "By the middle of the school year the guy retired and wrote a letter back to us saying um that whenever he whenever he got to a point in his career that he depended on a patient. he realized that he shouldn't have been in this profession. because as a kid, I'm now giving him advice."

On Family Transformation:

Veronica: "My mom going to college and sending all of her siblings to college. And then my mom building her house and then helping all of her siblings built all of their houses, you know what I mean? So they they they purchased the street that we lived on."

On Parenting Exceptional Children:

Veronica: "I I I would say that you you have to be patient and you you're gonna have to um find a way to to to keep him still because he has a tendency to to be uh uh working on several things at one time."

On Educational Centers:

Veronica: "That was the one thing about alpha school that made me realize they don't have a center. cause the library is the center of the school."

On Generational Motivation:

Veronica: "That's part of the legacy that try to protect the the seed of the work engine is more important to protect than what these kids define as their sanity right now."

On Lael's Competitive Drive:

Lael: "I looked at my uncles and I was like, I wanna do better than them. So everything that they worked for, I owned."

On Family Values:

Veronica: "My children are all special to me. each one of them. And then each one of their children. you know, it's it's special to me as well."