Monday, February 22, 2010

Hyperactive or just inquisitive?

I was always asked these questions:

'does she ever get tired?'
'how come she has so much energy, what did you eat when you were carrying her?'
'are you not tired running after her?'
'did you eat a lot of crabs last time?'
'how to send her to school like this? teacher surely scared of her, she won't even sit down for 1 min'

And these remarks:

'aiyoh, she really non stop one hor'
'you are such a drama queen la'
'she's so daring la'
'you better start thinking of what to let her learn to channel all these energies so it won't go to waste'
'you must be dancing too much when carrying her that's why now she is like you, non stop'
'I am so tired just watching her'

All the above are Hayley related. You see, everywhere I take her be it the grandparent's house, my friend's house or my grandma's house and everyone will more or less be asking or saying the above remarks about her.

I am just not sure if this is normal. From the questions and remarks I've got (some from experienced mothers), I am starting to get concerned. Should I get her checked for being hyperactive? Is that a disease and should I be worried? I have no other kids to compare her to. I can compare her to my sister's but the 2 girls are from my limited observation much slower and steadier than Hayley is. In layman terms, they are 'girlie'. They will play a ball for a while and that's typically tossing the ball to each other or kicking very gently once in a while. Or they will sit down for an hour playing with their barbie dolls. As for Hayley, she will dash for the ball, she will run so fast and so clumsily that she looks like she will end up banging herself against the wall or the door and she will even make a dive for the ball which looks like she will knock her head against the floor. She likes to run towards a mattress I leaned against the wall and just bang herself towards it.

The babysitter said she behave exactly like a boy. Is that so? Come to think of it, she likes playing with her remote control car or gadgets.

Papa assured me that she's just being inquisitive and not hyperactive. Every new thing excites her and she's got short focus. Whereas my in laws said she behaved exactly like the father when he was her age. They had to spend a lot of time watching over him just like how we watched over her.

The little Miss Inquisitive likes to ask 'what's this' like a hundred times whenever or wherever. Whatever new food you plan to put into her mouth, she will ask 'what's this' and she will not open until you tell her what it is. If she's happy with your answer she will open her mouth. If not, she will turn her head away. She'll point to a tree or a house or a shop and ask 'what's this' although she knows it's a tree or car or shop cause she will sometimes answer herself when I didn't. Apart from 'what's this', 'what sound' is also as popular. She's a scaredy cat who's terrified of noises especially fireworks. Any small little bangs or knocks or slamming of doors and she will be asking 'what sound' and saying that she's scared the whole night.

Like everything in the world, there are pros and cons. Because of her energy and charm, she's very likeable. She amazes everyone wherever she goes. Once I sang 'boom boom pow' and swayed my my hips a few times and then she imitated me immediately with the singing and the dancing. Everyone just laughed.

When she's not busy asking questions, she likes to explore gadgets. Her favourites are mobile phones, laptops (ours and not hers) and my camera. Below are the 2 photos she took of me using my camera. Not bad for a 2 year old eh?

2 comments:

Leona said...

As a parent, I can understand your concerns. But looking at that she is just 2, it sounds like she is just going thru a phase. I felt exactly like that when Ryan was 2 too.
She sounds really cute when you mentioned she has alot of questions...

Kiasu Mom said...

Leona, oh.. she is so extremely long winded lor. She can ask over and over and over again or she will call me over and over and over again until I ask her to stop.