To be exhausted by my four year old

[whereRemyshoes]

This is today.

Up at 6. Watched Gruffalo’s Child downstairs with me. Talked all the way through it but did watch it. Had breakfast.

Played upstairs. Non stop talking and moving.

Got dressed, teeth brushed. Off to school. At school 9-3:15,

Home by 340 (bit later as we were briefly talking to some other parents.) Played outside until 5.

I made dinner. Watched one episode of Bluey. Then had dinner. Non stop movement. Just walks around. Charging into the sofa and jumping. Even when he’s not doing anything he’s moving, walking round in circles or charging into things.

It is really starting to bother me. I know I should be grateful he doesn’t just veg out in front of a screen but it’s constant and EXHAUSTING.

So you have the entire school day at home, child free?

ha Totally normal I have twins 😂

She's said she has two younger children!!

I'm almost 44, with a lively 5 year-old, definitely peri and work! The exhaustion is real!!
Is this your first?
It sounds normal beahviour to me.
Wait until they're a teenager and then they are literally up all hours 😆 😂 😆

And I haven’t said whether I work or not, either.

When I say exhausted by him, I don’t mean I am posting for advice about my own energy levels thought that was obvious but evidently not. I am a bit worried that he’s more restless and frantic, for want of a better word, than most other children, and my others (thank you for pointing this out) are a lot calmer, stiller, I suppose.

Of course there are variations but I do notice.

Of course it’s relevant! If you’re working during the hours he’s at school, it’s full on. If you’re not… it’s not!

My DD tends like this, she's got calmer as she's aged but still has a tendency to bouncyness when tired (she is now 6). She will read a book quietly for ages.

How is his diet? Things like artificial sweeteners and upf i find made both my DC hyper so i now avoid both.

My DS who is 4 is exactly like this, as is my DS who is 7. They never stop moving. Even when watching tv. They leap and jump and jiggle and wiggle!

Both CAN sit still and behave well at school or if we go to the cinema etc. But their natural mode is MOVING and chatting and laughing and rolling and wrestling.

I find summer easier as we can be out in the garden/park etc but winter is hard as they are cooped up inside! We use YouTube for Brain break runs or floor is lava games. But generally they are just very energetic boys!

My older son can easily do 25,000 steps in a day (he’s got a kids Fitbit) and not be overly tired. Both sleep reasonably well but I work hard to tire them out 😂

Oh and op yes, some children are remarkably placid. I don't know why. Just like some adults are more energetic and some are quite sedentary.

If its any consolation i find that the go-getter types grow into energetic, confident adults who do well in a lot of workplaces.

It’s not relevant at all. I’m not asking about me

His diet is excellent to be fair.

I feel like I’m so down on him but I am struggling to manage him as he is at the moment.

It wasn’t obvious that you were concerned about him because your post wasn’t phrased in that way;

I’m exhausted (not, I’m concerned)

irs really starting to bother me (not, it’s really starting to worry me)

Thanks @Amammai . Yes, constant rolling. Two huge comfy sofas but he ROLLS on the floor. Whhhhy!

You are missing the point of the thread.
Op is saying she is exhausted by him because he is so active, he doesn't sit still he is constantly moving.
Not that she is tired!

My daughter is 3.5 and exactly the same. Jumping, rolling, head stands, jumping from
the table to the sofa, kicking and throwing things everywhere. She cannot be contained, she talks endlessly, even when I’m reading to her, playing with her etc… she doesn’t watch any tv, bed at 6:30 and up at 6. She’s worse towards the end of the day when she’s tired, and I have found that supplementing iron has helped. But I thought it was normal 3/4 yo behaviour? Didn’t really think anything of it, I think it’s normal.

Well you know now @Icanttakethisanymore .

It probably is normal @SoOriginal . I just fret because I do find him tricky to manage and I end up feeling irritated then feeling guilty.

Sympathy OP, my 3 year old is exactly the same. Never. Stops. Moving. He's been walking since he was 8 months, running at 10 and he's never stopped 😅 The worst part is that no matter what high energy things you do to knacker him out, he still just keeps going 😭

OP the only one of my four who was a constant mover and chatterer turned out to have ADHD.
He was the youngest of four.

I do worry about possible ADHD.

Mum of boys here (7 and 2), mine are like this. We have trikes/wheely bugs in the house for them to ride around when they're hyped up, sometimes they just run around chasing each other (and screaming 🫠). It can be a bit overwhelming but as others have said they need lots of movement, I find it easier to get up and out the house first thing at the weekends so they can burn off steam otherwise they start bouncing off the walls...

I do think it sounds within the range of normal for a 4 year old, not that that doesn’t mean it isn’t exhausting. But I’d agree with PPs that it wasn’t obvious from your OP that you are worried about him and reads much more about you yourself being exhausted, in which case whether or not you have the hours of 9am-3pm to yourself to rest and reset is very relevant. Your title is “AIBU to be exhausted by my four year old” not “AIBU to be worried about by 4 year old’s level of activity”.

I understand she’s exhausted but the kid is in school 30 hrs a week and presumably sleeps about 11hrs a day. That means that during the week she might actually be looking after him about 6 hrs a day. How exhausting can that really be? Unless she’s also working, in which case, it’s incredibly challenging. There is obviously a difference.

My two boys (4 and 2) have just spent this evening taking all the cushions off the sofa until the whole floor was covered and created an obstacle course jumping from each one. I just sat and watched them!

Its normal and much better than sitting watching tv for hours on end.

Ok, well fwiw, my 4yo sounds broadly similar. He’s not interested in watching TV at all, much to my frustration. He wants to play, all the time.

Have you ever spent a very short time with someone, an hour or so for example but then thought "blimey that person was exhausting!"?

I think that is more the point op was trying to make.

I felt straight away this is what you were trying to get at or hoping someone would say you should have just said that first instead of trying to tease it out of people