They're impossible to exhaust

It's 9:47 p.m. and my two year old is currently listening to a spinal trauma lecture with my wife because apparently the preceding twelve hours of dancing, reading, maths, karate and swimming were simply not enough to make us sufficiently tired that we want to go to sleep.

Meanwhile I am standing at the fridge door, rage-eating cheap carbohydrates and bulk-buy chocolate as if my life may well indeed depend on it, as the three year old politely advises me that he is now nocturnal and won't be sleeping until the morning.

He then insists on showing me his new lego construction, and authoritatively informs me that he has done a poo.

From what we've gathered so far, they don't seem to be like other children we've encountered, who will happily saunter off to bed at a merry six thirty p.m. having done one, maybe two substantial activities during the day. Possibly even accompanied by a nap.

Our kids are more like Border Collies, needing constant intense exercise and stimulation if you've got any hope in hell of getting them to fall asleep at the end of an exhausting day for an adult, let alone a two year old.

In fact come to think of it, our border collie is the least high maintenance member of the whole family.

Is this a trend?

Having read around a variety of blogs, websites and books about other parents' experiences, it seems this is a common occurrence amongst bright kids. Their ravenous brains devour new information and experiences with seemingly endless capacity, like a wood chipper chewing up kindling, leaving their parents gasping for breath in their wake, just trying to make it through to bed time in one piece.

I don't really know what the solution is yet, and I'm frankly too tired at this point to try and figure out which of the things we've tried that seemed to have worked, because anything that has worked previously has not done so with any consistency, and we always seem to end up back at square one wondering how we're supposed to fatigue two Duracell bunnies.

We do have two goals that we try and achieve every day, however, which we prioritise above all else:

1. We're not mad at the kids when they go to sleep, no matter how exhausted we are, or how much of the evening's tidying has been subsequently reversed, we do our best to ensure that when the kids do finally fall asleep, they do so feeling loved and supported by their parents

2. We don't get mad at each other. Just as difficult, and just as important. The only thing that gets us through is knowing our partner has our back and we're always a team no matter what. We'll debrief about how we feel, if could have handled things better, but mostly lots of reassurance and supporting each other.

This too shall pass...

If you're a parent and this sounds familiar, please know that you're not alone, and that we feel your pain as you sit there broken at the end of another day. If you have somehow found out the answer to exhausting a gifted child, then for all that is good in this world please let us know in the comments!