Red has been Off…The…Wall lately. He will be twelve on Thursday and was diagnosed with ADHD when he was barely six. Since that time we have been on a rollercoaster of meds, behavior modification, classroom modification, you name it. At times, it works amazingly well! Then, suddenly, everything falls apart and we’re back at square one. Right now, we’re again at square one. The meds aren’t working anymore and it’s been hard. I have teachers calling me weekly (he isn’t doing this, he isn’t doing that, he isn’t prepared for class, he forgot xyz, and the list goes on), homework takes hours, he’s been Sir Spazz-a-lot, and I have finally accepted that keeping him on non-stimulant meds isn’t going to work out any longer. 

I hate the meds. The stimulants scare me as we begin to enter the teen years. I worry about sending the wrong message: “take a pill to fix yourself”. But if we don’t get him the meds that help him, what other message am I sending if I’m constantly telling him to calm down, knock it off, ssshhh, don’t interrupt me, leave the baby alone, get your homework done, we always leave the house with shoes on, where is xyz? This child is so amazing, smart, funny, sweet, and loveable. And very sensitive. The constant harping can’t be doing much for his self esteem. The meds, when right, DO help. So I guess it’s back to stimulants we go. Sigh

I don’t know what I’m looking for with this post. I think just an outlet. Maybe commiseration with others going through the same thing. Who ever said this parenting thing was easy? ♥