jumpy.jump.jump

Don't you remember being a kid and jumping around in those inflatable bouncy castles at fairs? I remember taking my shoes off and jumping for as long as the ticket collector would let me. I'd invariably end up falling over and getting stepped on, but that was part of the fun! Today I went to the yearly combined birthday party for my little friends, and they had a "jumpy" there. Actually- they've had one every year for the past three parties. It's a much easier form of entertainment for 4-8 year olds than other party gigs since they can pretty much do everything themselves. The best part of this is that there's no time limit (except for when the rental place comes to pick it up again); the kids can stay in as long as they want. And they do. As usual, I was strongly encouraged (forced) by the youngsters to bounce around for a while. It was a much more strenuous workout than I'm use to. I had to take a break every few minutes during which the kids all tried to bounce me up and down. All this led me to wonder why children really do have so much more energy than adults. I remember having grown-ups comment on how much energy my siblings and I had as children, and thinking that they were crazy. I never noticed a difference energy-wise, I just figured that they were old, and therefore did old-people stuff. I never considered the fact that they may be interested in running around more, but just wore themselves out faster. Now I realize that I do the same thing to kids; I ask them how they got so much energy, and why they're not immediately asleep at bedtime. I'll have to look into research done on this front.