Tuesday, July 28, 2009

26.2 Miles of Peace and Quiet

The other day I was searching Cafe Press for marathon shirts.  Bearing that expression, "26.2 Miles of Peace and Quiet", the shirt instantly jumped out to me.   I'm sure that most other Mother Runners can relate.  The reason I run is 99.9 % for my mental sanity. It is peace and quiet. It is time without hearing "Can I have" "Can you get" "Hon Where's My" "Mom he/she hit me" "but I don't WANT to"
 
For instance, I was laying in bed this morning dreading the fact that, according to training plans, I really had to get up, out of bed and go run 3 miles.  Snuggled up, cuddled into my quilt, I thought, "I reaaaallly should close my eyes and go back to sleep. No one will ever know..."

But, then I thought about what my day would probably have in store, and how I really needed to take 3 miles to myself, and so, I put one foot in front of the other.

A Snapshot into an AD/HD Home During Summer Vacation

Things around the house have been a little chaotic since, oh,  June. Part of it is that AD/HD kids tend to not do well with changes in routine.  Unstructured time can be a disaster waiting to happen.  To complicate matters, people with AD/HD tend to struggle creating that stability and routine for themselves and their family.

So, what we end up with gets a little dicey.  I've got Holden having issues that look eerily like OCD  because the schedule isn't the same every day.  Quinn melts down because she's incredibly bored and misses her friends.  Finally, there's myself, struggling to maintain any sense of structure.

Holden stared down the Hyperfocusing and OCD tunnel this summer. It's been bizarre. A year ago, if you would have asked me what our biggest struggles were I would have said, hands down, IMPULSIVITY. For 9 years we battled his constant urge to fight the right. He would just do or say without thinking or even considering. But in the last year, that is where I have seen incredible and amazing improvement. He is much more considerate of consequences and is, by far, my more safety conscious kid. He understands, most of the time, that actions result in consequences. Finally! But in turn, we have seen some other things creep out. OCD isn't funny. Really. yperfocusing is frustrating. But sometimes I just have to laugh. when I am told that we won't be going to Atlantis for a vacation because it would cross the Bermuda Triangle and planes crash in the Bermuda Triangle....and specific references are sited. Today at the grocery store I bought a box of cereal for Quinn. Holden read on the box how it says if we buy 10 you can send away for some piece of junk. "We must buy 10." "We must buy 10" He didn't understand that we didn't need to do it NOW.

He is doing things that I am having a very hard time coping with, like picking scabs and skin, and fingernails, because he can't stand the rough feeling, only to have them turn into major messes. When he does this, I have a hard time not shouting at him and punishing this behavior. It really sends my OCD (germs) into overdrive.

And that's another fun part of the AD/HD family. Each others' ticks drive one another nuts!

Thankfully life will return to normal soon. He returns to playing Lacrosse this week with a camp. Soon thereafter school is back in session. Normalcy will return and we'll be (hopefully) back on track.