Clumsy? Uncoordinated? Normal?

[irinam]

Ok, reading on this board and others I often see mamas describing

getting rolleskates for a 4yo

ice-skating 3.5yo

When I go skiing I see kids as young as 2.5yo going down the hill with more confidence than I ever had

My DD is 5. I can NOT picture her doing any of the above!

I tried, I honestly did!

Skating turned into her leaning on my arms so heavily that she was almost suspended in the air (and my arms were sore for a week after that, LOL)

Skiing: the moment she feels herself move (on a *tiny* slope!) - she immediately falls, sometimes it looks deliberate even

She can trip and fall on a flat, empty and not slippery floor.

My son at her age was way more coordinated, and way more willing to try new activities...

Should I be worried? Will she turn out to be a "couch potato"? (well, I don't really think in those extremes, but YKWIM) Anybody else who has kids like that?

[G&B'sMama]

Believe me, I am in the same boat with my 5 year old DD. Skating, bike riding, skiing and other feats are far off. My parents gave her a bike (with training wheels) for her birthday and she told us she will try riding it again next year. She is less clumsy than just uncoordinated. When she was three we actually had to take her for some physical therapy because she could not hold/use a utensil to eat, climb steps, hop, run, etc. The physical therapy helped immensely, but she will probably never be an Olympic athlete. We found out during the therapy that she was better able to perform physically if she was given (and eventually memorized) specific verbal instructions about how to perform the physical task. She learned how to skip a couple weeks ago after weeks and weeks of going around the house saying under her breath “Hop on one foot, go forward, hop on the other foot, move forward”. This may not be the case for all uncoordinated kids, but I am glad we discovered something to help her a bit. Of course, she loves to cuddle up with a book and read for hours. So I prefer to think she is more a book worm than a couch potato. Of course, DH and I are the same way, to some extent- especially DH who couldn’t ride a bike until he was 12! We also found her some friends with the same proclivities, and that helps.

On the other hand, our 15 month DS already climbs everything, runs, eats with a utensil, and could ride the tricycle if he could reach the pedals. He will be skiing and skating when he is four, I guarantee it. Both are normal in my opinion.

[4evermom]

Some kids don't want to try unless they are sure they can do something, fear of failure or perfectionism. Different kids have different temperaments, some more cautious and some more reckless.

[ceilydhmama]

I have multiple left feet But dd is a natural athlete. She stuns me with what she can do - I could never cartwheel, never made it across the monkey bars and still can't make contact with any sort of ball. In contrast dd can do all these things, and last year at 3.25 she skated and cross country skied with the same skill as me.

I think when you have a less coordinated child it works to introduce activities more slowly, with more instruction and to keep the first efforts really short. I come from a very athletic family but my lack of coordination was just taken in stride and I was never made to feel inadequate.

Today I am far from a couch potato - I do not do team sports though and honestly always hated them. My family focused on fun, individual activities (swimming, hiking, skiing, biking etc) where I was never put in the position that I 'let down a team' or where my skills were compared negatively to other kids...

She learned how to skip a couple weeks ago after weeks and weeks of going around the house saying under her breath “Hop on one foot, go forward, hop on the other foot, move forward”. This may not be the case for all uncoordinated kids, but I am glad we discovered something to help her a bit.

Actually, even though dd is very coordinated we do this with almost everything
Rock climbing: "hand, hand, foot, foot"
skating: "glide left, glide right"
jumping: "out and away"

[HippoMommy]

Some kids are also "internal learners." That is, they learn everything by "practicing" in their imaginations, through mental rehearsing, before they ever actually do the thing once. My brother was like this. Swimming lessons for him consisted of sitting on the deck next to the pool, observing the other students and listening to the instructor for TWO YEARS!!! Then one day, he jumped in the pool and swam to the other side all by himself. No intermediary flotation devices, blowing bubbles, dog paddle, etc. He'd just watched, listened, rehearsed internally, and then he did it. Fortunately, my mother and father had already figured this out about him, and didn't interpret his refusal to get in the water for 2 years as fear or lack of interest in swimming. He liked the lessons, so they let him keep going and eventually he swam beautifully.

Maybe your daughter is something of an internal learner, too?

BTW, my brother did the same thing with learning to drive. On his 16th birthday, he simply drove the car to get his license, because he'd been "practicing" internally for years. And don't get me started about him learning to skip -- I still remember it!

[irinam]

Thanks for all of your replies mamas It's nice to be able to "talk" to someone about my concerns.

[Alkenny]

My two older ones were total opposites. DD was cautious, afraid of everything and took forever to learn basic physical things. Along comes her little brother and he learned to ride a bike the same day she did (just hopped up and took off!), walked early (8 months running!) and everything.

All kids are different.