Things that make you go hmmmmm?

Every week I get emails from baby center regarding Timothy's development. Every month or so I get emails from baby center regarding my 5 year old and 7 year old respectively. Something I read in the email for a 2 month 1 week year old made me pause. It talked about overstimulation and how to tell if your newborn has had enough. In uteuro everything is quiet, muted and gentle. When they arrive - bright lights, barking dogs, phones ringing, siblings wanting to "play" etc.. can be overwhelming. Some of the signs of overstimulation are- closing eyes, turning away, tensing up, arching back, avoiding gaze and irritability. Sound familiar? These are the some of the same signs of overstimulation for bigger kids as well. We know we are living in a world of over stimulus. When we were children we were told, at times, to entertain ourselves. No computers, TV, or electronic devices of any kind. Just you and your doll or blocks etc. Today we are so busy with so many structured activities. There is little to no "down time or quiet time." My husband will attest I have fallen victim to this as well. You don't want your children to "miss out" on anything. But really - is it too much? On another note we had an exciting day yesterday. I have been talking about Halloween with the kids. Lexi picked her costume out months ago (Dorothy from the wizard of oz). For Robbie costumes have never gone over well. When he was younger I would struggle to get him wearing something- anything. This year we looked on a Halloween website and he picked out his costume. I was worried he would change his mind so we looked multiple times before I bought anything. And yes I spent way too much money on the final product- but his reaction was worth every penny. An astronaut was his costume of choice- complete with helmet. Very cool. It arrived yesterday and he put it on immediately- helmet and all. It is an itchy material, too big for him- but he loves it! Now that it was on him- getting him to take it off would be a challenge. However- after explaining he could not eat his beloved cheese balls wearing the costume, he took it off. The best part was when Dad got home from work. He pointed to the box and put the whole ensemble on. "Look at me. I'm an astronaut!" Music to our ears!!