Diet

Okay, so I know. I KNOW that so many people with ADD/ADHD kids start with the diet. We've never been "bad" eaters. We've always tried to eat lots of veggies, tried to keep the sugar out of the house, we don't buy soda, but will drink it if at a family party, etc. But I'm starting to wonder if it's something I need to be more in control of. I do believe that what we put into our bodies affects how we behave (both physically (i.e. sickness, growth, brain function) and emotionally). But I've never been a "food nazi"...just tried to take things in stride. Earlier this week we tried an experiment. We followed a basic ADD diet. The next day the kids were wonderful. Well, the following day we had a horrible diet (McDonald's for dinner, ice cream, cereal for breakfast, etc.) and the following day the kids were horrible. So...makes me think maybe I should be better. I'm looking into the Feingold program but wondered if any of you few readers (is anyone still here?) have actually tried this, and what you think?

You play with fire and you're gonna get....

So the other night we were putting the kids to bed and my husband asked my five year old what his favorite part of the day was. We'd done some really fun things and had had a good day as a family, and we figured he'd say something about spending the day at the lake, or playing at the park. But no. Instead he said he liked when my oldest (11) took these:
And this:
And made this:
So we had a good long talk with DS 1, and had to show him pictures like this:
to try to get the idea through his head that he shouldn't be doing any of the above. Sometimes it worries me just a little (or a lot) that my child seems to have no executive functioning or impulse control.

How do you manage a child and teach them responsibility? It's moments like this that make me think I might have to follow him around every moment of his life for the rest of his life.

It's days like today...

...where I love and hate my children. Yes, I just went there. No, I don't really hate them, but it sure feels hard to love, or even LIKE them somedays. Days like today when the house is a wreck, as usual, and I'm trying really hard to clean it (rather, I'm trying to make my kids clean it), where I have so much work coming out of my ears that I don't-sanely-know how to hold on. It's days like today where I have a sick baby, and my only sanity (my daughter) is gone getting sparkle toes, and I would much rather be with her than here. It's days like today where it take four hours, yes 4, to get one child to get dishes into the dishwasher, and the other child to pick up the couch pillows from the floor and simply put them back onto the couch. It's days like today where I've decided rather than eating with my children, I've taken my leftover red beans and rice and hidden away at my computer to browse blogs for lunch, hoping that I'll have just fifteen minutes where I don't have to deal with the screaming that is coming out of their mouths. It's days like today where that's not going to happen. And when I had a teaspoon full of clear Claritin syrup sitting on the counter waiting for a child to take (who has severe allergies), and I hear my DS2 screaming, then DS1 comes in to tell on him, and I sigh. And then he tells me that DS2 just spilled the Claritin all over the place, to which I am not surprised since he spills something EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. And to try and keep calm, it's days like today where I tell DS1 that it's okay, DS2 will just need to clean it up. And then DS1 leaves my room, calling after DS2 and tell him, "You need to clean up that oil spill..." and it's days like today that make that actually funny. It's days like today that make me grateful for the children I have.

Where are the shoes?

Does your ADD/ADHD child misplace or lose things? With my oldest it has always been a variety of things: jackets, pencils, backpacks, homework...his brain ;-) . But my 5 year old has one thing that he misplaces/loses, and I think it drives me even more batty than everything my oldest lost put together. It is ALWAYS his shoes. Every time (yes, really) we need to leave we are scrambling around looking for shoes. Oh, I should try to compensate for this, you say? I do. I start getting the kids ready an hour before we need to go anywhere, and somehow it always still comes down to those darn shoes. Some we have yet to find! I look everywhere...the shoe closet (duh, why would they be there?), his room, the bathroom, under the couches, under chairs, every room in the house, outside the doors, in front of the trampoline. The thing that kills me is sometimes one will be in the bathroom, while the other is buried in a pile of dirt, or in the oven (okay, not really). But still...I need a tracking GPS device just for my five year old's shoes.

When Life Hands you Lemons...

Make lemon pudding.

I love how my oldest is interested in experimenting and discovering. Today he asked me if he could make pudding for dessert. Of course I said yes. Discovering and learning and doing are important! Not to mention the math lessons of using measuring cups! Oh boy! So he went to Grandma's (who lives downstairs) and picked out a package of lemon pudding. He added water, sugar, and stirred. He did need help adding the egg yolks. I started the stove top for him and he started stirring.

Then he got bored


... so I finished.

At least we're having dessert tonight! :D

Taming the Tiger

I've never been accused of being "high-energy" or a "yellow" peronality. In fact, I'm pretty low-energy. It's not that I wouldn't like more, but I just can't seem to find it. But my kids? They have energy. A LOT of it. And it's hard keeping up with them during the school year, but now it's summer and they are all home and ...bum, bum, bum:

BORED

So there is a lot of fighting, a lot of mess-making, and a lot of me running back and forth between the two. So I've decided this summer, instead of being frustrated with our time together, we're going to try and tame their inner-tigers by wearing them out (I *might* just be utterly exhausted after the summer). So this is the first week of summer and so far we've done our swimming lessons every day, we went and bought lawn water toys, and the kids are having a blast. We've had dance recitals and sleepovers, and I think this approach might be working...they are all sleeping SO well! But swimming lessons end next week and I've got to come up with something else.

Please share any ideas you have!

We have some merit badge classes coming up, Up With Kids, champ camp, soccer, and maybe more swimming lessons.

Come What May!

So we've had the RUN AROUND with B's teacher (my oldest), and with B the last couple of months. It has gotten to the point that his teacher appears to be extremely bothered by my communications with her. I dislike this, but what am I supposed to do? This is my child and I am fighting for him because he can't do it himself. He deserves a chance, right? Sigh. Anyway, my hubby took him into school the other morning to make sure that homework was returned and that the teacher gave him credit for it appropriately, and he asked her what suggestions she had for him entering 6th grade, and what we could do better. She suggested we get him an "official accommodation" (since apparently if it's on paper, the teacher suddenly is much happier to comply...sorry, sarcasm off). So we contacted the V.P. and he said he doesn't think B needs a 504 and that we should talk to his teacher at the beginning of the year and request accommodations, and that he'll sit in if we feel it's needed.
So we go to the counselor on Monday. This is the counselor that B's pediatrician suggested we see after I was frustrated at our last medication management appointment. The problem is that B does pretty well when he's on his meds, but if I don't give them to him, he doesn't take them (even though he tells me he does). B struggles, regardless, in remembering to turn his homework in when it's due, and he doesn't bring home all the information necessary to complete assignments. I don't know how much is ADD and how much is him being an 11 year old boy. This counselor will see us for one time and give us some suggestions. Well, we meet and talk over some of the issues we are facing and she gives us the same ideas we've been given many times, and a few new ones. Last of all she suggested we get an IEP, which is even harder to get than a 504! Oh boy! Really?

On another note, D, my 5 year old, had his last day of pre-school today. Oh, he's growing up! He'll be in kindergarten soon and we'll see what that brings. I'm scared and excited all at the same time.