I always said that when I was a mother I’d never lack the patience my mother had with me. But that was before I had children, before I was Dxed with ADD, and before I knew my kids would be so…diverse as well.

Now, as the mother of an ADHD child, I know what my mother must have endured with me, since she too, is the mother of an Add child now an ADDult And we are pretty sure she has it herself, along with LD’s like dyslexia etc. ( she once circled the island I live on twice trying to find our house and the next time I had to give very straight forward simple, step by step instructions that included visual point markers so she’s know they were on the right path.)

Anyway…The awareness on that level that my mother and I have of each other TODAY is uncanny, but as an ADDmother then ( her ) trying to parent an ADD child ( me) she didn’t have what I have…Knowing I have ADD while raising my ADD kids. We just didn’t understand the issues with inattentiveness and distractedness. It was a tough time. The older I got the harder it was to relate. The best years for me were before I was about 11 or 12.before it got too complicated.

I’m lucky that I know what ADD is, and that I’m medicating for it for myself ( cause otherwise I’d be a bumbling idiot, literally). It helps me have more patience then she did for mothering kids who both have pretty big adhd traits.

I also, as an ADDer, for some reason, have this very close link to childhood/teenhood…so I relate to kids very well. But I relate to ADD kids better it seems. I can be more sympathetic then their non ADD parents.

So I often probably tend to let the kids “get away” with more then The Mundane One does. I “understand” where they are coming from, and why they do some of the stuff they do. It’s a constant struggle. I go from being a “crabby mom” trying to give them more stability to see improvements in their behavior, and then waffle back to the more organic lifestyle that is simpler on the brain for me ( and them) My poor husband though, who once thrived on a “bit” of organization lives in our chaos now, since he is surrounded by it.

Between me, and the kids he hardly ever gets a word in edgewise. I can’t blame him for being upset, someone is always interrupting, but what do we do…this IS what it is.

It drives me nuts cause I have social anxiety all the time, worrying about what I said, how I said it, did I say to much. etc etc. and now living in a small hamlet… I think it is getting worse. And then I have anxiety cause I feel like I am always getting upset with the kids, and the neighbors must think that I’m a terrible mother. Or if I talk to them, I talk too much, and the kids yammer on, and I need to keep them ”
in check”

Sigh….this is just some of the thoughts going through my mind tonight. I don’t like being a crabby mommy…I need to let  it go… butit is so hard.

For your reading pleasure today, since it’s raining and my kids are wii fitting to “get their sillies out”.

An old article I wrote for a parenting site about the Nintendo Wii & Wii Fit. Though it is over a year old, it still applies.

I thought with all the anti med talk for ADHDkids recently, it might be good to bring awareness to the benefits of the Wii Fit.

I use it with my kids a lot and notice they seek less hyper stimulation and argue with each other less for stimulation, as well as have better attention spans when they can Wii Fit for 20 minutes twice a day.

Even Doctor John Ratey advocated the Wii Fit’s balance training as beneficial on a free teleseminar at ADDclasses.com recently, before the official call began while talking with Tara McGillicuddyabout ADD and exercise.

But given the ability to do yoga, aerobics, strength training, foot eye coordination/balance games, and even quiet sitting meditation, there are a lot of people misunderstanding just how much the Wii Fit can do for you.

I even set my WiiFit to freestep while I listen to the teleseminars, to get in my exercise.

My 8 year old loves yoga and skijumping. She’s ADHD/PDD NOS and my 4 year old son enjoys the free jogging chasing the doggie “mii” he made of his favorite stuffed animal “vanilla puppy” and loves the soccer game, which is great for vestibular stimulation seeking kids with ADHD or CAPD. (spinning, sommersaults, watching tv upside down on the couch.)

My very hyper 4 year old son-"gummy bear", getting his sillies out.

Wii Hab

While everyone clamors for a Nintendo Wii this 2007 holiday season and can’t get one, they have hopes and are being told that after the holiday demand dies down they’ll be easier to get in spring of 2008 and onward, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up just yet!

It seems an unforeseen use for the Wii is starting a larger demand for them as the Wii has started to gain popularity among doctors and occupational therapist for what is now being called “Wii-Hab”.

A quick Google search will give you dozens of results for the Wii being recommended for weight loss in kids, teens, couch potato adults and even being purchased for seniors homes as part of their fitness regime for those who can’t get out anymore, but would like to stay active and out of a wheelchair as long as possible.

Injured soldiers, stroke victims, and brain injured patients across North America have been prescribed “Wii Therapy” as part of their rehabilitation and mass improvements in recovery time and general health are being noticed across the board.

No longer can society solely blame videogames for the demise of our youth!

The Wii is here to change that point of view forever.

Parents with children who have ADHD, Aspergers, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Dyspraxia and other neurological issues are noting the benefits to letting their kids play a session of Wii sports in the morning, and then again in the afternoon when they get home from school.

Less clumsiness overall, better attention span and less disruptive behaviour are being reported with the use of the Wii, when used in small time periods so hyperfocus won’t set in.

Parents are expressing their gratefulness at their purchase and joy at stumbling across an occupational therapy accidentally for their children that would otherwise cost them a fortune with therapists and rehab facilities.The best part is that it’s fun, the kids don’t know it’s “therapy” and the parents can do it with them for some family fun time.

The Wii could very well be THE greatest medical invention of this century! Helping to not only lower obesity percentages among our youth, or even overall population, and with that decreasing the odds of diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks!! But, also giving people with neuro based deficits some hope for a medication free therapy!!!

With a few gift card requests from family for presents to be able to purchase a Wii, even a low income family in need of the health and medical benefits of Wii Therapy could own one in no time (when the demand and supply issue is worked out by Nintendo, of course)

Given all that, when you factor in the cost of non insured occupational therapy for 6 weeks of rehabilitation, or a years gym membership, the costs of driving back and forth to the facility, it makes the Wii a very affordable and appealing purchase.

Wouldn’t you agwii!?

and no..Nintendo didn’t pay me to say this, but if they are reading…we would love a free mario cart game!! GummyBear broke ours by scratching it when he was 2 from twirling it in the case being excited to play.

So I’m out in the yard cleaning up the work in progress of maing our gardens look nice in our new home, and I’ve been feeling more then I should be feeling about things with neighbors going on here, that maybe I’ll post about at another time… but I’m taking a old planter box I found and am fixing it up to house a bed of ditch daisies ( my favorite flower and the ones the children always pic for me) and I started thinking a nice quote about the wild flowers or simple things in life were always the best, since previous owners have left me a front and side bedof over $500 in expensive flowers to tend to ( can you say oi! ADD and flowers needing attention=dead flowers)

anyway, I don;t wnat to be side tracked to long, I’m actually here to get the quote I’m looking online for, but I found this one, and had to share it. cause I needed it today.

“Never allow anyone to rain on your parade and thus cast a pall of gloom and defeat on the entire day. Remember that no talent, no self-denial, no brains, no character, are required to set up in the fault-finding business. Nothing external can have any power over you unless you permit it. Your time is too precious to be sacrificed in wasted days combating the menial forces of hate, jealously, and envy. Guard your fragile life carefully.”

Og Mandino quotes (American Essayist and Psychologist, 1923-1996)

Ok here.. read this!!!!!! Then read my rant.

Jeremy Mayfield tested positive for methamphetamine during a random
drug screening May 1 at Richmond International Raceway, ESPN The
Magazine has learned from two independent sources.

In court documents filed in the past two weeks (Mayfield sought a
temporary restraining order to return to the track; NASCAR
countersued), it was revealed that Mayfield had admitted ingesting a
double dosage of Claritin-D, an allergy medication, and the
prescription drug Adderall XR immediately prior to the Richmond drug
test conducted for NASCAR.

Mayfield claims the Adderall XR had been prescribed by a physician to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

However, a third drug came up positive during the urine-based Richmond
test. The name of the drug in question has been redacted from court
documents and was not specified by either Mayfield or NASCAR because of
the conditions of a May 29 gag order issued in Mecklenburg County
Superior Court in North Carolina.

Mayfield had filed for a temporary restraining order on May 29, asking
to be allowed to compete while his case with NASCAR was ongoing. Judge
Forrest Bridges denied the request. In the filing, Mayfield’s attorney
claimed the suspension was for amphetamines. During the hearing, NASCAR
attorney Paul Hendrick described the unidentified drug as a “dangerous,
illegal banned substance.”

On May 15, NASCAR chairman Brian France used the words “serious
infraction” in describing the failed drug test and said that the third
drug came from within the categories of “performance-enhancing or
recreational.”

In a countersuit filed by NASCAR in U.S. District Court on June 5,
NASCAR cited the side effects of the redacted drug as “excessive
aggression or exaggerated self-confidence as well as numerous other
physical and mental side-effects detrimental to the health and safety
of a stock car driver.”

Monday, ESPN The Magazine learned from sources that the unidentified
drug was methamphetamine. Neither NASCAR nor Mayfield is allowed to
comment because of the gag order.

Mayfield’s attorneys contend that the failed test was a false positive
test reading, triggered by either a mixture of the two acknowledged
drugs ingested or by poorly executed testing procedures. In their
lawsuit filed May 29, Mayfield’s legal team pointed to Nashville-based
AEGIS Sciences, the corporation contracted by NASCAR to conduct the
league’s random drug screenings, which were implemented for the first
time this season.

AEGIS, which also is subject to the gag order, is not allowed to
comment on specifics of methamphetamine testing as it refers to the
Mayfield case, but its Web site does list two methamphetamine-specific
urine-based test procedures.

Following the May 1 drug test, Mayfield drove his Toyota Camry to a
31st-place finish at Richmond the following night, completing 371 of
the race’s 400 laps. As part of the drug-testing procedure, he was
asked to reveal any medications he was taking in order to avoid
confusion during the analysis.

Mayfield said he informed the on-site testing administrator that he had
taken two doses of Claritin-D within a short period of time prior to
the test.

On May 3, Mayfield talked with Dr. David Black of AEGIS to inform him
of the Adderall-XR prescription. According to the lawsuit filed by
Mayfield against NASCAR and AEGIS, Black “expressed doubt that someone
of Mayfield’s age and experience legitimately needed to take Adderall.”

Mayfield’s attorneys allege that Black’s reaction was unnecessary bias that could have tainted the testing procedure.

Because Adderall allows people to “hyperfocus” and continue to
participate and concentrate on heavy physical and mental activity for
long periods of time, it has been listed as a performance-enhancing
drug in much of the sports world, including the NCAA, MLB and the
Olympic governing bodies. NASCAR’s list of banned substances has not
been released publicly.

In 2004, Olympic sprint champion Justin Gatlin was suspended for what he claimed was Adderall use for ADHD.

Atlanta Braves pitcher Derek Lowe received special permission from Major League Baseball while he was with the Boston Red Sox to take the banned substance after doctors convinced the league that he suffered from attention deficit disorder (ADD).

According to his lawsuit, Mayfield and the program’s medical review
officer, Dr. Douglas Auckerman, spoke on multiple occasions May 8,
during which the racer admitted to becoming increasingly agitated about
having to provide more details of potential drug use. He said he
finally told Auckerman to do “whatever you feel like you need to do
because you have done nothing but confuse me.”

The following morning, Mayfield was informed of his indefinite
suspension for failing the drug test at Richmond. That afternoon, the
suspension was announced publicly at the Darlington Raceway infield
media center. Among the first questions asked of Jim Hunter, NASCAR
vice president for corporate communications, was what drugs came up
positive in Mayfield’s test.

Hunter refused to answer, stating that privacy concerns outweighed any
benefit or effect of making the substance public knowledge. The
following weekend, France cited those same reasons for not revealing
the name of the drug.

The two sides are waiting to learn their next date in court. Before
filing its June 5 countersuit, NASCAR successfully petitioned to have
the case moved from Mecklenburg County Superior Court to U.S. District
Court. Because the presiding judge is on vacation, the case is not
expected to be heard until late June.

Under the terms of NASCAR’s substance-abuse policy, Mayfield cannot
appeal his indefinite suspension, but can apply for reinstatement, a
lengthy road that includes drug rehabilitation and counseling.

“I don’t need to go to rehab,” Mayfield told a group of reporters at
Lowe’s Motor Speedway on May 16, a surprise track visit that violated
the terms of his suspension. “Because I don’t have a problem.”

Ryan McGee is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. He can be reached at mcgeespn@yahoo.com.

ok… I’ll try to refrain from cursing my  ass butt off right now!!! But, I’m sitting here fuming right now, and as such, this is going to be jumbled a bit I can tell already!!! Sorry,  my “performance enhancing” ADD drugs have worn off for the day! <grrr>

So, I never paid much attention at first, cause I’m not watching tv much anymore, but Jeremy Mayfield ( who I never really liked anyway cause he’s a bit of a hot heat, but now the whole ADHD thing totally explains that, and I’m over it) apparently tested positive for methamphetamine during a random drug test after a race on May 1st.

WOW! You think…that sucks…a sports car driver using illegal drugs to enhance his performance and cheat! what a #$%*&^. How unsafe! driving a car, in that traffic, at that speed! WOW

But the thing is, Jeremy has ADHD, officially diagnosed by a doctor and has been prescribed Adderall extended release as part of his Adult ADHD treatment/management.

On the day in question Jeremy says he also took two cold medication tablets in close succession, in which he declared prior to the test, besides his prescription medication, that he at first didn’t want to mention ( nor should he of had to).

So now, because of wording by NASCAR statements to the media and refusing to actually say what the results were, the media says a third drug is being claimed to have been found, and NASCAR is saying it is not on record anymore. why not? did you goof?

But ohh, the media…. you’re so smart….you all rushed to your google, and have decided that Jeremy must be taking, by descriptions given by NASCAR ( to make jeremy look bad IMO) meth.. ohhh the big bad street drug Meth!

OMGZ Jeremy is a junkie! Ya right!!

OMFG! ARE you all for real!!!??? If you bothered to do your research, you’d know that most all officially used and recognized medications to treat ADHD ARE derived from methanphetamine. (some SSRI’s have been helpful)

If you actually took the time to RESEARCH your article, you’d find out that ADDERAL, the drug that Jeremy has been prescribed for a legitimate medical condition IS “technically” meth, or well….meth’s cousin…. enough to have the same descriptions as what NASCAR claims as being dangerous for a driver to be using while driving.

Again, since you didn’t bother to do your homework… here is a cut and paste from wiki.. ( you’d also find it on webMD etc. since wiki, is not considered a reliable source for most reputable writers.)

Amphetamine is a psychostimulant drug that is known to produce increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite. Amphetamine is related to drugs such as methamphetamine and dextroamphetamine, which are a group of potent drugs that act by increasing levels of norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine in the brain, all chemicals, if you bothered to look into it further, you’d known that ADDers tend to have  lower levels of.

So I am left to wonder if there is confusion…Jeremy is saying all he took was prescription Adderal, and over the counter cold meds ( and at this point we have no reason to not believe him ).  So did these morons over at NASCAR who don’t even have one brain cell to rub between them look at the paper results ( they didn’t even bother to give Jeremy a copy of) and see “anphetamine” as a chemical compound found in his system and then see that Jeremy is saying “adderal and cold meds” so everyone is just thinking there is a third drug? There seems to be a lot of inconsistency in this. But it is not frickin’ rocket science people!

Now the issues I have with this whole thing is that Mayfield is being called a cheater, a druggie, and being told he cannot be reinstated as a driver until he essentially admits to a drug problem and undergoes extensive drug counseling and rehabilitation yet to be determined by how ever the “good ole boys” over at NASCAR see fit.

He can’t appeal the decision, and he has to bite his tongue and be calm ( sometimes hard for us ADDers when being wronged) and be rational while sayng ” I don’t need that, I don’t have a drug problem.” Because if he gets upset, and blows up publically, and damn right he SHOULD be upset. They’ll just say his behaviour is a direct result of the drug problem. They are destroying his reputation.

I want to scream right now.. I’m so pissed FOR Jeremy! NASCAR ( the organization, not the sport) sucks… and if you wanna know why…go read this after…http://prescottdailycourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&subsectionID=2&articleID=68903

If Jeremy is using prescribed ADHD medication AS prescribed to treat his officially diagnosed ADHD, then he has no problem with drugs at all, and forcing him to do counselling and drug treatment for a problem he doesn’t have is basically forcing him to lie and say he does, just so he can race again.

Might I point out to his lawyers ( not that you shouldn’t already know this but)… Jeremy is being discriminated against by NASCAR for a legitimate health issue. So Jeremy, I hope you sue NASCAR’s ass off, and end up owning it! Call Dr Ed Hallowell for expert witness on ADHD in adults.

And for  the writer of this article I read who is malinformed  about ADHD and medications, and too lazy to research his topic; Here’s some fast facts about Adult ADHD, for you and anyone else who thinks that because we take a medication for it that is a stimulant and is amphetamine, it must be a “boost” to us somehow, or allows us to perform “better” than others.

1. People with ADHD have a neurolocial difference in their brain chemistry. Without ADHD medications they very often have to endure serious lack of focus, lack of attention to detail, getting side tracked easily, getting easily bored and falling alseep or gettind drowsy in repetitive situations.
2. ADHD medication is NOT performance enhancing to a person who NEEDS it to function “normally”, like it would be to a person who is not ADHD and took it.  Adderall for people with ADHD is no more performance enhancing than lithium for bipolar or insulin for diabetics. At BEST it allows a person with ADHD to perform on PAR with the others around them and even then it doesn’t “cure” ADHD traits, or make us equal in any way shape or form. Ask any Adult ADDer who struggles trying to balance what YOU handle easily in a day or week, how they’d do without their medication, and then tell them that with it, they would be better then you. Then prepare to be reemed out.
3. People with ADHD are MISSING the essential brain chemicals  that YOU NON ADDers have that keep your brain awake. So we take stimulant medications in order to compensate for that. The hyperness comes from the fact that WITHOUT the chemical that YOU have to function normally, our brain says ” WOAH.. something is wrong here, I can’t stay awake, quick, turn up this chemical and that one to compensate for the lack of that one, we need to keep this body awake and moving” and therefore the hyper, innatentivness and other classic traits of ADHD occur. When you put stimulant medication INTO that ADHD equation, and fine tune it with the right levels, the brain functions more closer to what a NON ADDer’s brain functions like and the hyper slows down. It’s not like you just gave rocket boosters to a jet engine for more power, or shot heroine into his arm! Get your facts straight and stop spreading crap!
4. Dr Black…you astound me.. what can I say… You’re an ass! For more info on that go read this article, which better says what I am thinking.
5. FYI: taking ADHD medication doesn’t allow people with ADHD  to “hyperfocus”, nor would medication give Jeremy an “edge on his competition” or make it “dangerous for him to drive”. Hyper focus is generally what happens when we DON’T have ADHD medications to help us regulate the ability to tell the passage of time, and regulate our attention better in order to accomplish stuff and not be distracted by everything. We use hyperfocus to functon better when unmedicated, because basically without stimulants, it is harder f0r us to juggle our attention. Without ADHD meds many of us struggle with hyperfocus   and all the other issues adults with ADHD struggle with ( you know the ones Dr Black thinks no one our age have, or need to be treated for.) HAVE ever heard of google Mr Ryan from ESPN?
   With the words “ADHD Hyperfocus” the third result down on a google search gives you an article on About.com  by Keath Low, with a pretty good definition by  ADHD Doctor Kathleen Nadeau. She explains hyperfocus this way. “In actuality, ADD is not a ‘deficit’ of attention, but a disorder in which individuals have much less control over their responses to stimuli,” writes Nadeau. They are unable to regulate their attention. Though they may have extreme difficulty focusing, organizing, and completing certain mundane tasks, they are often able to focus intently on other activities that interest them. This tendency to become absorbed in tasks that are stimulating and rewarding is called hyperfocus. It is not unusual for these individuals to become so immersed in a task that they are oblivious to everything else going on around them.
6. By the same standards you’ve applied here to Jeremy Mayfield, one could call the Children’s Protection Agency tomorrow on me and report that I take meth every day and I drive around with my kids in my car while doing so, since I take concertta every day for my Adult ADD and am the primary driver in our home. Before my ADHD medication, on a long drive on a route I am used to…I had a hard time staying awake, and have to often stop and get out of the car and take a break, to wake myself up, or drink large doses of caffeine to keep alert. If you asked my husband, he’d tell you he much prefers my driving while on “the meth” than not, as i get too distracted by other things when driving without it.
7. When driving WITH my meds, I actually follow the speed limits and am not forced to use cruise control to keep from speeding. As many ADDers do TO focus when driving so they only focus on the driving.

So you see…ADHD medications for an ADHD NASCAR driver as performance enhancing is actually laughable…it would be like like saying a cigarette and a coffee for a non ADDer NASCAR driver would be performance enhancing.

ERRRRR….this just makes me mad….Jeremy, I’m rooting for you. Stay calm, stay strong, stay true.

My son checking out the tadpoles on an evening jaunt on a back country road

So, right off the bat, before I go offending someone who has an ADHD child, in the city, who attends school. I’m not saying rural living and/or homeschooling is a “cure” or that you should pack up and move to the country and start homeschooling your child. Rural life is not for everyone. I can understand that.

But having grown up in the country all my life, and having tried the fast pace of the city, the rushed lifestyle, the  schedules  ” and all that jazz”…Out here in the country, I just “fit ” better. My kids just “fit” better.  ADHD just doesn’t exist especially when your ADHD kids classroom is outdoors catching snakes, sitting in the  ditch yelling into culverts studying echoes and how sound travels, finding out where tadpoles come from, naming plants, and getting your feet dirty while picking rocks for a campfire pit.

I’m not trying to paint a rosy picture of rural living…my kids are not medicated for their neurodiversities, and they do drive me crazy some days, when they grate on each other’s last nerve and need a break from each other, and I’m about ready to lose my mind from my Concerta running out at about 5 pm, and I get scatterbrained myself, and there is still supper and bedtimes to be done.

Some days it sucks when we have to go to town or the day to run errands for the month, and we’re out stuck in a vehicle most of the day and they are about ready to climb the inside of the van walls. But if I had to parent my kids, in the city, sending them to school on a schedule, for THEM and my OWN ADD, and they were unmedicated. I’d probably be in a rubber room at the nearest city hospital!

Got ADHD? Rural life is the Rx Its just more laid back, and everyone is a bit more forgiving.

Oh look…Cows!

Here a wreath I made for my friend that just celebrated her 1 year on Twitter. It was kind of a silly thing we ended up doing for each other, cause we noticed that our one year “twitterversary” was approaching. She made me a cute card with a bird on it from scrapbooking supplies, cause she is into scrapping, and so when her’s came up, I took one of the wreaths I had made from the grapevines growing on my back fence, and decorated it up.

She really liked it alot, and has it hanging in her kitchen. Which kind of shocked me, casue I just threw it together, being the ADDcrafter I am. The bird is felt, and the blanket stitch is the fastest sticth there is. The vine is twisted  sticks, and the bows are ripped fabric, cause I couldn’t find my sissors 

Not that I’m underminding it, cause I’m actually proud of how it turned out myself too. But I really do love that the rustic country feel for things suits my ADD traits so much…it makes me wonder how many people really had ADD way back then when these things were first done, and are now considered a “style”.. call it rustic/country/shabby chic/redneck/or ADDStyle..it’s me.