My son has a "need to move" we've been told by his teachers. This means that he has a lot of energy and it seems to have an underlying message of "and he's a bit aggressive or rough too," but that could be my worrying about what I've seen and wanting him to be a kind and gentle child.
And yes, I know boys will be boys and toddlers aren't the most gentle creatures, but he is more physical than some children and he doesn't stop sometimes when he has an overabundance of energy that may involve shoving other children or pushing them or any other number of things that most people don't find charming toddler behavior.
It is completely fine to have extra energy and be an active child. What we'd like to do is find an outlet for him to use that energy for instead. So, we signed him up for gymnastics classes.
Yesterday, we stopped in and there was a class just starting at the time. He was happy to take his shoes off and run in to join the mostly four-year-olds. It was a busy gym at that time in the afternoon and about five minutes later he came running out, crying, saying he didn't want to go back in there. What happened?
Nothing happened. But do you remember being a child and being in some impossibly big location and realizing your parent was impossibly far away and feeling utterly lost in space? There are too many stories of children getting lost in grocery stores and department stores that I've heard over the years to not know this is a common feeling for young children.
Do you remember the panic when you were little when you realized your mother wasn't on the isle of the grocery store you were on any more? Do you remember the panic you felt when you had no idea what to do to go and find her? Those aisles are so big when you're that small and the feeling can be overwhelming. I have vivid memories of several such incidences from my childhood.
So, we took him home and at the suggestion of the owner, brought him back today for the one o'clock class, in which there were only three other students and the rest of the gym would be empty.
I talked to him about his experience and he wasn't completely sure he wanted to go, but he did agree to go back and try. It took a tour of the gym from the owner and a few minutes of me sitting on the sidelines (something parents aren't normally allowed to do) to get him focused on the class. What did it I think was when the teacher had them pretend they were dragons and do their best roar. After that, there was no stopping him. The big room wasn't so big any more.
The Big Boy Update: After he got over the big room at the gymnastics school (see above), he had a great time doing forward rolls, beginner cartwheels, hanging upside down like a monkey and even jumping into the "cheese pit" made of foam blocks. We signed up for weekly classes starting immediately.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Cheeseburger! She likes cheeseburgers. She likes them more than chicken nuggets. Her brother still has no interest in cheeseburgers though.
Fitness Update: Five miles and the workout got deleted in my pocket somehow. I added it back in manually and I forgot to change one setting so it looks like I ran five miles in twenty minutes. Speedy!
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