I took some children to the latest Dr Seuss book movie over the holidays and boy were we disappointed. To me it had the same effect as drinking an over-fizzy, synthetic drink, too quickly on a roller coaster. Nauseating. Twenty minutes in and the children looked stunned and entranced as they tried to tune out some of the high intensity volume, imagery, and action, and comments afterwards confirmed what I saw – it was all too much at once.

Leave Me Alone
We are big fans of Dr Seuss - we love the silly rhymes and off-beat stories and the anarchic, crazy nonsense he believed "wakes up the brain cells". But waking up brain cells is very different from over-loading them. In today's multimedia world it can be hard for parents to recognise when everything is just a bit too much for little senses. Dr Kyle Pruett a child psychiatrist identifies some "leave me alone, I've had it" behaviours infants and young children display, such as back arching or avoiding contact, which signal over-stimulation. The second link is to information about reducing stimulus stress in premature babies whose neural systems may need further development.
www.drkylepruett.com/index.htm
www.comeunity.com/premature/overstimulation.html

Party Madness
Speaking of over-stimulation, birthday parties can be another example of excess on all fronts. I'm not trying to be a party pooper here, but I do wonder how the humble birth milestone became so bloated. My son who is four went to a party recently - the little birthday star was three. On arrival we were handed a colour-coded activity timetable which left me bemused. It was very artistic and there was plenty to keep everyone busy but really this was planning gone a bit mad. Everything was over-prepared and mom was getting very stressed, "everyone's going off-task we still have lots to do!" She hadn't noticed that the kids were all having fun anyway and most were just running around with balloons. Party anxiety for kids and parents can happen, so to minimize chaos there are good tips at PBS. There is an interesting perspective on parties at the other links.
www.pbs.org/parents/birthdays/article-partyprinciples.html
www.birthdayswithoutpressure.org/partyGames.html
www.birthdayswithoutpressure.org/

Time For Bed
I had wondered if I disliked the Dr Seuss film because I didn't manage to squeeze in some zeds because of its hyperactivity. I usually get a quick nap during kid's films - I don't miss much of the plot and no one notices in the dark. But no, this film was really just bad and so is sleep depravation, which it seems we are increasingly prone to. All sorts of ailments and irritabilities are now being attributed to poor sleep or lack of sleep, not only in adults but also in babies, toddlers, and teens. These sites explain a lot.
www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20060913/Feature1.asp
www.sleepforkids.org
www.tau.ac.il/~sadeh/baby/about_sleep.html

All Set for School
A friend of mine has a very typical three-year old son. But at a recent assessment for a primary school place (in London, of course) he threw a spectacular tantrum and both mum and son were asked to leave because he was upsetting all the other children sitting at their desks. My friend was mortified and is now worried in case her son (who has more assessments to undergo) will give a repeat performance. Tantrums are normal and are often triggered by stressful situations or are a cry for help. They can also be managed and there are useful ideas at the first two links. Thankfully most schools conduct much more sensitive assessments and there are many ways to gauge if a child is ready for school or not. The last two links have some insights into how parents can help to prepare a child for school life and address anxieties.
http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/temper_tantrums.html
www.pantley.com/elizabeth/advice/0071471596.php?nid=403
www.drpaul.com/behaviour/schoolreadi.html
www.bbc.co.uk/parenting/your_kids/toddlers_school1.shtml

Take A Break
Of course parenting and all the ups and downs it involves will test the best of us most of the time. As parents we can be hard on ourselves and hard on our kids without even knowing it. With the best intentions we crank up the pressure and pile on the stress and actually something half as intense might be better for all. Trying sharing a book with a toddler without watching the clock. Or, take a well earned break and let them browse these sites which, I concede, are computer-based but Seussville has animation ideas without being crazy and Dr Universe has the answer to why do I have to sleep - very useful for reluctant bed-goers!
www.seussville.com
www.wsu.edu/DrUniverse/Contents.html
www.brainpopjr.com
www.funology.com