DJ Electric Daddy

The Sprite has reached that 'showoff' stage of his young development. Whenever he wants to attract, impress or get the attention of someone (it could be another child, a visitor to the house or a family member) he will often resort to some outlandish stunt. Usually this involves climbing and ultimately falling to the ground in a glorified flop. "Did you see that?" he'll ask. "Do you want to see this?" he'll inquire before repeating the stunt. Recently we were at Irvine Regional Park for the annual Christmas Train that rides through the park to Santa's Village. Waiting in line for our turn to ride the train, a girl maybe 7 years old took a liking to our Sprite. This attention was met with cold shyness at first, but thanks to the young lady's persistence, was eventually returned with some very silly behavior of the "Do yo want to see this?" variety. Climbing on the railing, falling to the ground, fake-bumping into the wall, all includ...

So it turns out our child is a rare breed. A specimen of American society found in only 10-15% of children. Much to our chagrin he is not an exceptionally gifted genius. No, our rare breed is 'spirited' as defined in the book "Raising Your Spirited Child" by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka. ElectricMommy was doing some research on the internets, trying to find out if The Sprite's bossy, rowdy and explosive behavior was within the realm of normal toddlerdom, and found many a reference to the above mentioned book. It was clear after the first chapter that our little monster is a prototypical Spirited Child, displaying every trait that defines such character. Most of these traits are off the chart to the extreme. So what are these traits that make-up such a child? They are more intense, hyper sensitive and emotional, extremely perceptive, stubbornly persistent, and excruciatingly resistant to change. Noticeably more so than your typical, yet already intense, sensitive, persist...