sigh…..where do I even begin with THIS one… ugggg… my poor husband….he is such an amazing man to put up with everything that ADD has a part in for the chaos that is often our life caused by me.

IT’s been a rather interesting week or so, you see…I’m hitting menopause…yes, at 34 years old. I’m on the way out of the childbearing years. I knew it was likely to come earlier then typical for most, because all the women in my family have started their journey to “mature womanhood” around this age.

As such I’ve been having a lot of issues related to hormones…typical ones like heavier periods, longer ones, then shorter ones, hormones and mood fluctuations. Not to mention hitting a sexual peak for being REALLY interested and easily aroused, and being REALLY REALLY scatterbrained!

So today the BIG ADD moment and screw up was I drove to the city for about 20 KLM with the parking brake on.. yes folks… totally in a daze… mostly a sexual one, being all hot and bothered for my hubby sitting beside me smelling so damn hot, while we flirted obscurely without the kids aware of what we were saying from the back seat. I drove with the parking brake on. You see I have a check list I do for a lot of stuff I do, to make sure I do them…habits that I’ve come to incorporating to make sure I don;t make scatterbrained mistakes. IF I get side tracked from them,,, my world starts to unravel and I make a LOT of mistakes. So I forgot to do my checklist hen I got in the car before I put the car in drive.

It was NOT a nice moment when hubby realized it… I had to pull over the van and he got out and walked off the steam coming from his head from the anger at THAT one… the brakes are not good at best right now, and then I go an do that

THAT was a crappy moment

We managed to make it through the rest of our trip relatively unscathed from my lack of ability to concentrate well, and are home now.. kids are fed and in bed. and I’m heading there now too. To take advantage of this new shift in sexual interest I have to THOROUGHLY make it up to hubby for the day we had !

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)

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.

As with anyone who has ADD, i get side tracked very easily. so when I am doing things, like housework, I try not to leave the room/area until the task is done, so I won’t forget where I was and what I was doing.

Yesterday my daughter came to see me in the back yard as I was cutting grass to tell me daddy needed me inside for help right away.

Today I came outside to do some yard work, and this is what I stumbled upon in the back yard…

Opps. ADDGirl Strikes again!

And like so many oters with ADD, unti I saw the lawn mower sitting there, and the uncut patch of grass I didnt even remember that I had cut grass.

It is great to see the studies being done on ADD, so that doctors, teacher etc  just starting to try and wrap their brains around ADD will listen when there is scientific evidence behind the reasoning, but it is pretty commonly known among ADDers, that when we fidget we listen better, and learn better.

I homeschool my kids, and when they do math they  tap a pencil, chew the pencil, or swing their feet. When they are reading they are twirling in a chair or again, swinging their feet. I often let them play with playdough while we are doing stuff, to keep them on task.

I doodle when on the phone, as it seems to help me listen to the speaker better.I read better when there is  one non intrusive background noise to take away all the other noises, as well.

There are other studies now that show kids focus better when sitting on exercise balls rather than in chairs or desks as well, which some schools are starting to implement in small classrooms.

I’m glad to see the medical society catching up.

My daughter reading in a rocking chair sideways, swinging her feet, rocking, and twirling her hair while homeschooling.

Mirror Article

Source: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2009/05/25

On the way home from town from my4 year old son’s swim class, we stopped for a moment to allow this family of canadian geese safely pass over to the millpond from the creek. I love that life gives us so many opportunities to homeschool. The spring is such a busy time. between these guys, and the barn swallows, the  back yard downy woodpecker and the like. the kids are learning a lot about wildlife and life cycles.

I know.. you’re saying…”Woah! What happened to the site!?”

No, it’s not a mistake. I’ve changed it….too many responsibilities, not enough time, and despite over 10,000 hits a month as it was, I never get any feed back. It makes me feel like it is not worth it.

I have two young kids both with neurodiversities that make life an ADDventure and interesting and a joy and a challenge every single day, as well as a disabled husband who needs my constant care and help.

These things leave me little time for much else these days. Especially since we moved to rural, where gardening, cutting wood, and others things require so much of my attention.

So, I’ve decided to make this my site about ADD since it is something that is a large part of my life. My daily blog of being a woman/wife/mother with ADD, my ADDventures in Motherhood, and country living. I’ll share my ADDCrafts friendly crafts, my ADD Friendly Recipes, as well as other things i enjoy such as recycled junk art, note cards, and other things I make like my paintography and photography, and such. Perhaps even a little bit of my music.

I’ll soon be offering the CleanHome booklet and dayplanner to purchase under ADDing Routine category for anyone interested. As always I’d love to hear from you so feel free to leave me a message.

Blessings
MamaRil