As a parent of a very active and spirited toddler who is tired of always being the one with the kid in hyperdrive while the rest of the wee bambinos sit calmly in their stroller or high-chair, I figured it was time to take action and meet moms of other high-intensity kids.

I just finished reading Mary Sheedy Kurcinka's book "Raising your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Chjild is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent, and Energetic" and found it so wonderfully re-assuring that I wasn't doing something wrong - and that I hadn't done anything to make my child this way, other than be a fairly intense person myself who happened to have kids with another fairly intense person - that the next step seemed to be finding a way to network with other moms who might be dealing with similar parenting challenges. 

It's great for our children to be around kids with all temperaments, but moms of spirited kids (Dr. Sears calls them "high need") can gain a lot from reassuring each other that we're not crazy, we're not bad moms, and that when all the stuff working for other kids (e.g. weaning, time-outs, cry-it-out sleep training, etc.) doesn't work for our kids, that we have to trust our guts and find new ways to parent and teach our high-energy kids. Having a child who tests us every step of the way - well beyond what most kids will do is exhausting. Maybe we can share some secrets of our success, and learn to laugh over our failures, while our kids destroy the furniture, swing from the chandeliers, and train for baby triathlons.