Help: DD can't sit still

(Chris Himes) wrote in message om...
LisaBell wrote in message . ..
5yo DD likes to draw, paint, colour, write letters, do workbooks etc
and will spend a long time working on a task, so I don't think she has
a problem with attention or anything. On the other hand she seems to
have almost no ability to sit still, either while working on
something, listening to a story, or even at dinner. She'll twist and
squirm in her seat, shift around, stand up, half sit, sit on one leg
then another ... she is constantly on the move.

This sounds a lot like my son, now 8 years old. I have never seen the
child sit to eat a meal, and after a few weeks of school this year his
teacher asked "does Evan ever sit in a chair at home?"

I've been watching this thread since all this describes my 5.5 year
old daughter! And no, she's never "sat" to eat a meal. Or if she does,
it's only because I said to her: "Please sit on the chair, on your
bottom." (Usually, she has one knee on the chair...) And that only
lasts for a few seconds.

I remember taking her out to eat once when she was about 2. She ate a
little, then she got down from her chair. She's a very well-behaved
kid, she doesn't run around like a maniac, so we let her get down. She
stayed close and circled the table, picking up a bit of her food every
time she passed her plate, and smiled and patted mom, dad, big brother
as she made her rounds. I think she ate every bit on her plate, she
just walked it off going around the table!

My son is an
excellent student and chess player, he can be very patient and wait
his turn, he just doesn't ever sit (or stand) still.

Same with my daughter. She can concentrate to draw some detailed
pictures or to color in a coloring book, but she stands at the table
or half-kneels on a chair to do it. She uses a ba-zillion different
colors in her artwork and is also usually singing or telling a story
as she draws. She's just a creative multi-tasker.

He jumps up and
down watching TV,

Ha! We visited my mom over Thanksgiving. My mom has a little
trampoline that she used to use for light workouts. My daughter got it
out and bounced on it while she watched TV! It was hilarious.

he is all over his bed at night,

At sleepovers with her cousins, my daughter has been kicked out of
beds with multiple kids in them because she thrashed around too much.

he runs instead of
walking.

....and dances and skips. Which is heck in a parking lot.

He is a pretty small kid, and I think all this activity
burns a lot of calories for him!

And my daughter is thin. A nice, healthy thin that I hope stays with
her throughout her life.

So, if there aren't other problems, I would just let her squirm and be
herself.

Chris

And I'll add that all of this also describes my pretty normal husband.
He hates to just *sit* and always has to have something to do. He can
concentrate on things and he can sit through a movie - we're even Lord
of the Rings fans! But he's absolutely NOT a "couch potato." He's
active, that's all (and can keep up with our daughter!)

- Bev