I know, it has been so long since I updated. Things have been so crazy around here. It seems like every second of my life has been consumed with learning about ADHD. There is so much to this, but for the first time in 11 years, I finally have a glimpse inside the D’s mind.
I have never understood my boy. Never. But, now I am starting to. And it has made such a difference in our lives.
Things have settled down with him and he is now able to go a couple of days without a temper tantrum.
Still, it is not perfect and there is much work to be done.
The older boys are leaving for summer camp on Sunday for a full week.
Then, on Monday, my mom is taking Little E for a couple of days.
I will have a couple of days alone and then the rest of the week with only my 4-year-old, who loves lots of alone time.
It will be a long-needed break.
And when it is over, I should be rested and we should be able to get into a routine again. Hopefully, one that includes blogging!
I can’t believe that all of this change in our lives happened right when I got my new laptop!
At least it is change for the better. We are on the pathway toward healing the hurt feelings that resulted from a year-and-a-half long downward spiral in the D’s behavior.
Our family was a wreck. His tantrums got so bad that everyone hated being around him. The stress got the better of all of us and we all fell into bad patterns of interaction with one another.
Things are going much better now, though.
Still, I know this will always be work; it will always be a challenge. Any parent with an ADHD or other “attention different” child can tell you that, but at least it will be work toward a productive goal. Fighting all of the time was work, too, only without any positive outcome.
That’s all I have for now. I am seriously fighting to keep my eyes open, so I am going to get off the computer. I just wanted to check in and let my blog friends know how I am doing.
I plan on resuming Weight Watchers Wednesday tomorrow, too.
10:46 am on June 24th, 2008
As a sister of someone with pretty severe ADHD, I can identify with the counterproductive relationship model that seems to develop. And the tantrums. And overtired parents who (to me as a kid) just seemed to acquiesce to everything and not ever really confront the problem.
It was hugely stressful. And really did affect everyone’s relationships.
1:46 pm on June 24th, 2008
Thanks for your comment, Dana. It is comforting to know that other families go through/went through these things.
I try really hard to not fall into the trap of just letting D get his way. It would be easy to do. For example, doing his 15 minute chore for him would be easier than a two hour battle to get him to do it.
I am glad that I have chosen to keep working on this because now there are days when there is not even a 2 minute battle to get him to do something.
It was not the 2 hour battles that make things better; that only made things worse. It was learning the strategies that work for interacting with ADHD kids. I am so thankful for the doctors and families that did this discovery so that we could benefit from the research that is now available for us.