Some HOW, make time for yourself!

Photo by Dominik Gwarek

Never in a million years did I think that time was a precious commodity. Time, time for myself! what was that?

Some days, I’d have to work 10 – 12 hour days then, come home and do the parent thing. When was there time for me? Time to take a quiet soak in a bubble bath, or sit down and read poetry or a book by my favorite fiction writer. I had to wait years for the luxury of quiet time.

Quiet time! Don’t make me laugh! All parents of ADHD kids know that the words quiet or the phrase — time for ones self, isn’t synonymous with an ADHD child. Especially a single parent dealing with this tedious situation. If there are two parents in the household, each one should make sure that the other can take time-outs to gather their thoughts — [so to speak] mentally leave the planet for a while.

I didn’t have that luxury. During Drew’s adolescent years, I couldn’t leave him home alone so, a baby sitter was needed. [Frankly, even when he became a teenager I didn’t want to leave him home alone, I’d never know if the house would be left standing when I did. Of course having a baby sitter for a teenager was out of the question so, I naturally, had to take my chances.]

There was only me to carry the load. I’d work all day [night] at the Post Office then come home to take care of my busy little mister. There were times when I couldn’t find the time to sleep.

Can you socialize a wildman?

You can? Well, I wish someone would tell me how! Time’s tick, tick, ticking away!
Even Tarzan could be socialized. Although Tarzan was a fictional character, the thought was there, how to socialize someone brought up by apes.

That’s how I felt when I’d take Drew out to a restaurant or to the library, people would look at him and me as if we were a family of apes.

Do you know what it’s like to be in a restaurant and have someone at a table next to you with a child that’s talking loud and banging the forks, and spoons against the plates and glasses? It’s embarrassing!

There were times I wanted to scream “HE’S not a BAD kid, he’s just BUSY! or “I’m not a bad mother, just taxed to the hilt!”

No! Not the Roof!

For those of you who haven’t a clue what it’s like to raise a child with ADD/ADHD read this.

It was two or three o’clock in the morning. The house was quiet and serene or so I thought.

[Now bear with me, I’ll soon get to the title of this piece.]

At age eight, Drew’s bedtime was nine o’clock. [With children like Drew, consistency is a must, as a matter of fact it’s vital for a parent’s sanity.] I’d set his bedtime at nine when in reality, I started the process at seven-thirty.

See, this is how the process went; at seven-thirty, I’d say James (Drew) it’s time to start getting ready for bed. He’d look at me and grin then, head out the back door towards the swing set or head up to the neighbor’s house. Mind you, kids like him are in full throttle, they’re speedsters and hard to catch.

Oh Please! Do shut up!

I was surfing along the web when I came upon this great website ADHD Websites and article.

The title of the article: ADHD – Do People Tell you to Shut Up?

–Something about ADHD that can become a real problem is asking too many questions. We just do it sometimes, and we don’t even stop to realize that we sometimes annoy people. But when we do realize it, we still have a tendency to continue asking because we’re certain that we don’t know enough. Why does this happen? Because we have a tendency to be insecure.– Read more of the article at the link above.

This writer is dead on spot with his observations. My son is insecure because he heard the words “shut up” much to often.

Those of us who have and know ADHD children and adults know exactly what he means.