When my daughter was eight years old I figured out that the end of soccer season was a real problem for her.  It took me a while to put it all together.  At the start of the school year, everything was fine.  She got along with her sister.  She was happy enough to go to school. She could tamp down her perfectionist tendencies long enough to get her homework done. She could get to sleep and stay asleep.  Then mid-November tempers flared, homework took forever, and she couldn’t sleep, became moody, and didn’t want to go to school.  Oh my.

Turns out she really needs exercise to keep herself balanced mentally.  And I mean all out completely exhausting physical exertion. What a valuable lesson for her, and one she has been able to embrace over time.  She learned to take on sports year round, and later to take up running, something you can almost always do.  She trained for a marathon in high school, and played high level club ultimate (Frisbee) for years.  She chose a college in southern California, so she could do outdoor activities, such as hiking and unicycle riding, year round.  And when she moved to New York City for her first job, finding a gym was her top priority, followed by joining the work yoga group and two different dancing groups. 

And it turns out this is not unusual for highly gifted children!  Who knew? Come join us in November for a discussion of the psychomotor overexcitabilities found in many gifted children and how these relate to AD/HD.  Learn more!