Tigger Children

Posted by tiff in Momsanity, Playful Parenting | 5 comments

When I was growing up, my family nickname was Tigger. Because I liked to bounce. Everywhere. Ev. very. where. I remember one particular restaurant that *might* have been in Maine…it had the longest row of seats at a counter that I’d ever seen. We’d been traveling in a VW vanagon, exploring the United States, and that day we’d probably driven quite a few hours already. If you take someone who already has a reputation of being…rather…energetic, and then stick them in a car for hours and hours, it’s a fact of nature that the kinetic energy builds and builds. So when I was unleashed from the van and then saw those stools, I bounced up and down that row, sitting on each seat for approximately .2 seconds before bouncing onto the next. As disruptive as it probably was to have a 9 year old spastically butt bouncing on a series of plush bar stools over and over again, my parents simply repeated this as they watched me:

“The wonderful thing about tiggers, are tiggers are wonderful things.
Their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs.
They’re bouncy bouncy bouncy bouncy, fun fun fun fun fun!
but the most wonderful thing about tiggers is you’re the only one!”

It was something they repeated often. Either as a phrase: “you’re bouncy bouncy bouncy bouncy!” or “your bottom is really made out of springs today!” if I was mildly annoying them. Or the whole flipping song if I’d reached DEFCON 6 on their “What did we do to get a child like this” meter.

The thing is, it was fun to be a tigger child! Turns out, it IS totally fun fun fun fun fun when your tops are rubber and your bottoms are springs! I put the RAN in errands, if you know what I mean. Pure unbridled enthusiasm and energy. Inappropriate sometimes and in some places, as it turns out. But I’m glad my parents never made ME feel inappropriate for having a Tigger personality. I’m glad they let me bounce down the line of chairs, and bounce instead of walk, and run instead of sit still.

My sister’s little boy is almost 2 now, and starting to talk up a storm. One of his favorite words to say is, “hop!” As in, we’re walking down the sidewalk and he bounds past me in a hoppy little stutter step while yelling out “hop! hop! hop! hop! hop!”. He never walks. Always hops. He doesn’t like being strapped into high chairs. He laughs at just about everything. When he sees something interesting he doesn’t just say, “Oh, look.” he says, “OOOOOOOOHhhhhh! LOOK! LOOK AT THAT! LOOK AT IT! LOOOOOOOOOOOOK!!!!!!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!” My sister, bless her heart, is exhausted at the end of a day with him. He’s agogogogogogogolaughlaughlaughlaughlaughyelleyllyellyellyellrunrunrunrunrun kind of kid. He’s a tigger child, alright!

Popular parenting advice advocates teaching these kids how to be “civilized” and “well mannered” and “appropriate”. How to “sit still” and “focus”…I said “FOCUS! oh my god why can’t you just FOCUS!!!!!!”. And if all else fails, take ‘em to a doctor and medicate ‘em.

bullshit!

Respect who they are right at this moment. Embrace their personality.

Let them loose. Get them involved in parkour. Go hiking more. Go on more field trips with lots of open space. Hold off on a lot of organized sports for a bit, or find ones with the right kind of coach. You might also have to hold off on restaurant dining, unless you don’t mind a recreation of my bar stool bounce. Find a drum circle, karate class, drama/acting coach, big rocks to boulder on. Give them lots of space and lots of time to develop their personality.

I promise, one day Tigger children do grow up, and are mostly well behaved. Believe it or not, I don’t hop down rows of barstools anymore. I still do have a bounce in my step, but instead of bounding all over the place, I focus and just jump a couple times wherever I go.

If you call them anything (and we all know there are lots of things that run through your mind when you’re at your wits end but your child’s energy is only escalating…) make sure it’s something nice and positive.

Like Tigger!

Because tiggers are wonderful things….

And so are kids, and they deserve to know that their wonderful comes from who they are.

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