Whirlwind Child

Not a good sleeper, Whirlwind Child appears to need very little sleep. He fights napping, and he’s made bedtime a battle of wills. Whirlwind puts in a full day but still has difficulty settling in at bedtime. Eventually he does fall asleep and stays asleep, but once up in the morning, he sprints out of the starting gate and is ready to go. Whirlwind rarely walks; he runs. His parent can’t remember him crawling as a baby and said he went straight from walking to running by 10 months of age.

In high gear most of the time, he moves from one plaything to the next. Anything can be a toy as far as Whirlwind is concerned. He doesn’t get caught up in the details of figuring out what the object is meant for. He launches Legos into the air, places the family cat on top of his head, and unknowingly knocks over his toy box. He won’t stop to engage with anything or anyone for very long; he’s just too busy.

 For Whirlwind Child, life is an adrenaline rush so moodiness and tantrums prevail. Emotional control is not his strong suit. This behavior leads to negative social relationships, especially with siblings and peers. Whirlwind can be an aggressor when other children move into his play area. He usually wants to play alone and isn’t that interested in other children anyway.

Sitting down to eat a meal is not Whirlwind Child’s favorite thing. He prefers to run around the table and make occasional grabs at the plate. He can be picky, and he prefers to eat the same brown foods over and over. He needs reminders not to overstuff his mouth and that food is for eating, not wearing.

Often, he doesn’t hear when he’s being spoken to. Whirlwind Child has difficulty following instructions and his attention flies out the window often. He shows language delays and difficulty in communicating.

Parents always have to be on the alert because of Whirlwind Child’s lack of safety awareness. Walking in front of a moving vehicle in a parking lot or jumping backwards off a play structure that’s five feet off the ground is not beyond him.

The administrative staff at the preschool Whirlwind attends told his parents they don’t want him to return the following year because of his bad behavior with the staff and other children.  This is the second preschool Whirlwind has been kicked out of.