The Seven Deadly Sins, according to Wikipedia, as defined by Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th Century and later, cited more famously by Dante are:

Lust,
Gluttony,
Greed,
Sloth,
Wrath,
Envy,
Pride.

Where is Hyperactivity? Not the clinical definition, but the definition found in Webster.com, “the state or condition of being excessively or pathologically active.” This seems much more dangerous than sloth.

Is laziness or apathy really more deadly than hyperactivity? It seems that my kids’ excessively active behavior is the one that gets them closest to harm. I am confident that if Pope Gregory had met my kids hyperactivity would have made the list – most likely in place of sloth.

I cannot for the life of me figure out where my boys get all of their energy. My personality lends much more toward sloth. . . it must come from their father. Several times a day, my boys chase each other full-speed through the house-down the hall, left around the center kitchen counter with a near miss, left again through the dining room, and one more left through the living room back to the start.

They do a minimum of three laps. The only time they don’t do it is if someone is very ill.

They have been doing this since the youngest could crawl. Yet, now they narrowly miss the pot rack, sometimes hit the wall and the oldest finally grew tall enough to goose-egg his head on the counter corner. Instead of stopping them, we decided to duct tape and bubble wrap the corner of the center counter to prevent further head injury. We couldn’t opt to stop them from running, it is an inherent need.

This behavior enables them to quickly release some of the energy that has been bottled up without having to get dressed, collect snacks and extra clothes, put on shoes, and pack everything and everybody into the car.

They can run when it is raining, they can run when it is dark, they can run for three quick minutes before we leave on a car trip. I see it as a necessary outlet for them to release energy and a needed outlet for me to allow them to release energy. Not to mention, with the counter corner taped up, they are safe and I get to hear that glorious sound of my kids laughing for a minimum of three straight minutes.

In two years or so, along with all of the other expenses that children bring, it is going to cost us a lot, especially if we stay in Marin, because we are going to have to buy a bigger house with a larger indoor track.

By Jennifer O’Shaughnessy

Labels: Jennifer O'Shaughnessy

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