I have absolute horror stories about my childhood, which I do not look on fondly because I was fat, bookish and not interested in sports, nor did I necessarily get a lot of support at home either, though my brother who had very bad grades but was a football player was greatly admired.
Interesting thing is that I was the one who turned out to be successful, as tough as nails with an iron will.
Sorry to hear about your problems as a child. It is amazing how we remember them, but it seems you succeeded anyway, well done!!
Yes, kids are mean. It's so sad.
Yup, there are plenty of 5K runs throughout the summer. His favorite is every fall, called the Dinosaur Dash and money is raised for the Michigan State University Natural History Museum. Up until now he has done the "Museum Mile", but this year we will both try to do the 5K. There are many throughout the summer to raise money for children's hospitals and other kids' organizations which we will probably do as well.
And since the day he started walking/running during both morning and afternoon recess at school, he's not had one single physical outburst causing him to need the time out room at school! Late afternoons are still rough for him, and there ARE still issues that make him unable to be in the "regular" 3rd grade classroom, but nothing extreme and no aggression towards others. I spoke to the school occupational therapist about this a few days ago and we came to the conclusion that perhaps the running is the appropriate intensity of sensory input his body craves to stay more regulated. It's a major breakthrough!
Really fantastic to hear Holly.