It's Raining, It's Pouring, My Little Man Is Definitely Not Snoring

The first thing I heard when I awoke this morning was the sound of rain. I sighed. A rain day can be exhausting. The gloomy day itself can make one feel tired and maybe out of sorts. I knew the day ahead would hold challenges as the rain took away the option of playing outside for my children. I then knew that I had a decision to make. I could go along with the type of day outside and be gloomy, or I could choose to make the best of this rainy day. I took a deep breath and chose the latter.

Then, my son woke up. When David wakes up, his feet hit the floor and his footsteps make the announcement, "Here I am world!" This is a big contrast to my daughter, Victoria. She has never been a morning person. She begrudgingly wakes up, limps out of bed and plops herself wherever I or her Dad happen to be at that time. She likes cuddling and greeting the day at her speed. (I love this time with my girl).

This morning was no different. I heard David's feet hit the floor, he flung his door open and jumped in my bed. The first words out of his mouth were "this is my energy Day Mom! Do you know what that means?" I fearfully replied "No?" He said, "This is the day that I have EXTRA energy!!!" All I could say was "Wow." How could it be that a rain day and his Extra Energy day occurred on the same day. My first thought... "I'm doomed!"

I began to think about the decision I had made a short time before this. I chose to make this a good day. I had decided to greet the day with a good attitude. Really? Could this still work?

I had already decided to wait and do school in the afternoon today. My children were up later than normal. This is where I'm extra thankful for the flexibility of homeschooling. I went to the gym to work out and they got to play in the Child Care Area. At one point in my motherhood journey, I would have thought that I was being selfish to take this time for me. I now see it quite different. This workout helps me so much. It allows me to stay healthy, focused and gets those "feel good" endorphins flowing through my body. Post workout, I feel like I can conquer more!

It is now in the afternoon and we are about to head to our school room to finish our school for the day. If we finish in enough time, we may be able to play a game together or snuggle and watch a movie. This day is turning out wonderfully. Not only am I surviving, I'm embracing and enjoying.

Thank you Lord for allowing me to see that I am the one that makes the choice on how I will greet each day. Thank you for helping me to choose a good attitude. Thank you for helping me to set the proper tone in my home today. I am nothing without you. Oh and thank you for this beautiful rainy day. I am looking forward to some good quality time with my sweet children. Amen.

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ADHD is a very rough road to travel. There are a lot of hard days for child and parent alike. I have come to the conclusion that parenting my son will never be easy. There has been three days up to this point that were easy days. There has been a lot of tolerable days and intolerable days. To be honest, there's days I want to throw in the towel and allow someone else the chance to try. The Scriptures say that the Lord's mercies are new every morning. How amazing is that? He equips me each and every day to handle that day's challenges. Our God knows exactly where I am on each given day and gives me the strength to conquer it. I'm so blessed.

It's so important to remember that my son's brain works very differently than mine. This is a blessing and a curse to him. The curse is that he doesn't always fit in what society considers "normal" thinking and problem solving. The blessing is also that he doesn't always fit in what society considers "normal" thinking and problem solving. David will have challenges as he thinks outside of the box and that is sometimes hard for his peers and elders to see. However, David will be able to do so many great things as he is able to come at a problem and life at a different angle. So many successful people in history showed so many signs of ADHD. They were able to think outside of the box. The "H" in ADHD definitely would have given them the energy to make their idea come to life.

It can be so hard to react positivelty when your patience has been tried over and over in any given day. It is very important for me to set boundaries and stick to them. This is the case for any child, but even more important for one with ADHD. They need to know what to expect and what is required of them for their success. It can be so frustrating repeating yourself for the gazillionth time. At first, I thought that David was just not listening and disobeying. I realize now that many times he didn't hear me, or he heard me, but it didn't process properly in his brain. Eye contact is very helpful when giving direction. Giving too many steps to a child with ADHD is overwhelming for them. Many times I will have my son repeat what I have instructed him to do. He is not disobeying me and he is not dumb, he just processes information differently than I do. As the parent, I have to be the one that make changes in the way I parent. That has been the hard part for me, but oh so worth it. There's times when I feel very frustrated that I will whisper. My children look at me strange and ask, "Mom, why are you whispering?" I reply "I am whispering rather than yelling." It takes more concentration for me to whisper and helps to dispel my present distress. We all have given our children "time-outs". The purpose of time-out is to remove your child from the situation and give them time to regroup. Guess what? Sometimes I give myself a time-out. If we are having an extra trying day, I will give my children something to keep them busy and tell them that Mom is feeling frustrated and needs to take a few minutes to calm down. This is NOT a sign of weekness to them, but rather shows them a good example for problem solving. I will take those few minutes in my room alone. I will regroup and then return to what we were doing. My attitude sets the tone for our home. Do I ever lose my temper? Unfortunately, yes. It's those times that I need to seek forgiveness from my Savior and my children. Again, I'm so thankful His mercies are new everymorning.