I think high energy kids get a bad rap. We’ve come to expect quite a bit from our children in terms of the ability to sit still, be sedate, and settle down to school work and small group activities from a much earlier age. Kids who run, jump, “act crazy” and “bounce off the walls” are seen as needing medication and therapy. As any parent of a high energy kid can tell you, however, all that abundant energy is not necessarily a bad thing.
Some kids have high octane energy levels hard-wired from conception. They are often more active in the womb, seem to need less sleep or play incredibly hard and that crash and sleep hard, or sleep restlessly. They are not content to sit and look out the window as babes, but want to be moving, doing and interacting. Having a social baby can be great, and one who likes to be out and about interacting with people and playing can also be fun and energizing. As parents, we can learn how to accept and accentuate the good parts of a high energy child instead of trying to turn him or her into someone that he or she isn’t.
I have found that high energy and humor often go hand-in-hand and energetic kids can be more into jokes, being playful, acting silly, and just being downright goofy. These kids can be fun and often they can learn a great deal in the process. Maybe they are not content to sit down and do their learning from a book—but they are often absorbing all sorts of things they learn while moving, digging, running, building, etc. Learning through action just may be their preference for their entire lives.
So maybe high energy kids don’t sleep through the night or settle down for a mellow board game; the good thing is that they might actually watch less television and get more healthy exercise than more sedentary sorts. Additionally, a parent just might find that some of that high energy rubs off—there is nothing like a high energy kid to keep us moving and on our toes too!
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