Animals

Oh my goodness. Last night we had 37 people here for a fireworks party. Thankfully most of the time they were outside. 17 adults, 14 boys (mostly under 10!) and 6 girls. It was very noisy and the boys were very appreciative of the fireworks but also rather excitable. When everyone left we threw our 'stinking of bonfire' boys into bed, cleared up and collapsed in a heap. I was hoping that the excitement was over with. Not so.

Considering they all went to bed an hour later than usual I was hoping for at least a 7am wake up call. 5:50am was the reality. 5:50am?! I couldn't believe it, and had to look twice at the clock in case I was dreaming! And from the moment they woke up they were like wild animals waiting to be set free. Leaping, shouting, rolling around, and generally not listening to a word I was saying. It took Max 20 minutes to get dressed because getting dressed is far too boring and has to have other, more exciting, activities inserted in between pulling on pants and trousers. It was not a pleasant morning and there was alot of cajoling and 'come on - ing' going on. By the time it was 8:30 I was very ready to be opening the front door and letting them loose.

I opened the front door and they were off. Set free from their cage, they screamed, shouted and ran all the way to school. I had to almost run (and if you know me, I don't run!) to keep up with them.

I was very grateful that we walk to school. Imagine if we drove there and they hadn't had time to release all this excess energy. What would they be like in their classroom? Would they be the 'naughty boys'? I wonder if this is why we have so many children (especially boys) who are labelled and put on medication. Do they really need to be medicated or would a change in lifestyle be a better option? How many children are driven to school, driven home again, watch tv and play on computer games when they are home and never ever have chance to release all this pent up energy from the day?

It saddens me that we are so dependent on drugs but don't consider our lifestyles first. Of course it would make an easier life if my boys were calmer, and of course I often wish that there was something I could do to make that happen. But they are not. They are not being naughty (not all the time anyway!), they are just being 'normal boys', but 'normal boys' aren't acceptable in our society anymore because we want our children to be peaceful, calm, quiet and not to interfere in our busy lives. When they can't fulfill our criteria we give them drugs or try to make them fit our lives in other ways. Ouch. That's a bit of a harsh thing to say. Is it?