At 7:30pm every night, my seven year old daughters knows that it is time for her to get ready for bed. My daughter knows to get her pajamas on, brush her teeth, floss, and go potty before she gets into bed, all by herself. Once she’s in bed, she tells me she’s ready for goodnight kisses, so I go into her room to tuck her in, give her a sweet kiss goodnight, turn off the lights, and close the door. By 8:00pm, she is sound asleep and I don’t see her sweet little...
My daughter with ADHD has a tendency to overdramatize things that happen to her. If she stubs her toe, then that day becomes “the worst day in the world!” If she gets one spelling word incorrect on her test, she says, “I’m the dumbest kid in the world.” I love my second grader to pieces, but to say that she is a Drama Queen is an understatement. I don’t know if it is an ADHD thing, a girl thing, an Italian thing, or maybe all of the above,...
As I walk into Target, I immediately see the gigantic “Back To School” signs and can practically smell all of the #2 pencils. I see kids with their parents going over their school supply list, making sure they got the correct number of notebooks and folders and the right brand of markers. The kids I see look happy and excited about doing their back to school shopping and do you know what? So do their parents, quite understandably. Without realizing it, I am staring...
This summer, my husband and I decided to enroll our six year old child with ADHD in summer camp at our local wilderness park. We decided to try it out for one week to see how she liked it and so far, she has been loving it. Every day this week, she has been gone from 9am to 4pm having fun playing games, doing arts and crafts projects, and going on nature hikes. I have missed her like crazy, but I have a confession to make. To be completely honest, I have thoroughly enjoyed...
Visiting theme parks with children is so much fun! I’ll never forget my ADHDer’s smiling face when she first rode on Dumbo at Disneyland or when she got picked to talk to Crush at Disney’s California Adventure. It was truly magical! As a parent to two young girls, one with ADHD, I also know that waiting in lines at the Disneyland Resort and other amusement parks can be downright stressful for the entire family. Waiting in long lines can feel like a lifetime...