A Real Story About ADHD

Yesterday while I'm driving my phone rings, of course I dropped it while attempting to answer it, and as a result had to wait 5 mins to return the call. I see that it's my son's school, and my first thought was, what did he do this time, sigh. He was in the office because he had impulsively spoke out of turn, again. So, since they couldn't reach me the first time, they called my husband. As I'm finishing up the call to school, my husband is calling. Now my son is thinking he's really in trouble because mom and dad have both been called, and he's crying.

This morning after he ate breakfast, he went outside to nail a birdhouse to a tree. He had put on clothes that were dirty and had not completed several other things that needed to be done before school, including brushing his teeth. The dentist doesn't seem to understand why he had cavities, but he has no clue what it's like to get him to brush his teeth. It's a battle to say the least! He has gotten very smart about making me think he's brushed them, including wetting the tooth brush. People say, "Why don't you just watch him" and I would like to reply, "Do you think this is the only problem he has." I cannot watch him do everything that he's suppose to do everyday. I did get upset with him this morning, because I just don't get it. We have done the same things everyday for years, and he still can't get it right, and now he's crying, again, and I feel like crying but have waited until now to do so.

We talk about developing routines and patterns and developing habits in class, and my husband and I do the best we can to provide him with the best environment possible. We have tried charts and visual cues, eating healthy foods and yes, it seems to work but only for about a week. My son has been diagnosed with ADHD, and I used to think that parents who put their kids on medication were just lazy, but now that this mental illness has affected my family, I get it. Even still, I didn't want to medicate my child, so I got him some herbal medication from a whole food store. It has helped but not enough. His teachers are frustrated, his father and I are frustrated, but most of all he's frustrated. I feel defeated... As much as I don't want to, tomorrow I'm taking him for a medicine consultation, because I don't know what else to do.

I feel lately like if I'm going to get through this program at the same time as being a mom to 3 boys, wife, daughter & friend, I'm going to have to live the healthiest life I can, so I provided a website on how to have good mental health and some techniques to improve our resilience.