It’s understandable that brand-new babies have a hard time coping with an equally new, unfamiliar world. It’s a lot to take in for adults, let alone a 7-pound newborn. Overstimulation is real, manifesting in fussiness, trouble settling and the dreaded “witching hour.” When babies graduate to toddlers, they grow out of the overstimulation thing though, right? RIGHT?!
You wish. At two, three and beyond, kids “look” like they’re having the time of their lives … until all hell breaks loose. You drag your butt on a Saturday morning to a 4-year-old’s birthday party. There’s a playground. A bounce house. And 35 sugar-fueled preschoolers. Your kid is right in the thick of it, laughing and screaming like a banshee. They have an AMAZING time … for about three hours.