I have posted several times about our youngest son and his abundant energy, etc. (They can be found under the “Spirited Child” tab at the top of my blog.) Having a ~ spirited, high needs, hyperactive, ADHD – whatever you want to call it ~ child is very draining on a mother, and a family. Although we all love him so very much (because he has an adorable personality that is just as big), the CONSTANT motion, CONSTANT noise, CONSTANT talking, is often hard for all of us to handle.
This mixed with family that disregards what we say and who tell us our son “is a normal boy with energy”. It is even more frustrating. And all I can say is “No, he isn’t.” They don’t understand. They say I don’t give him enough attention or enough discipline. They have no idea.
This then feels like a DOUBLE WHAMMY!
For me, knowing others understand what I am going through is such a relief! Seriously. And every now and then I find that even I forget that he is a “special needs” child and that he NEEDS to be handled differently. But how? *THAT* is the question. The question I have yet to find the right answer to.
I posted a request for parenting books / resources on Facebook and a friend recommended Raising Godly Tomatoes. What a great site! (I have much more to read there!) but that site also led me to a couple of other sites that had some great information as well. One was NATHHAN (National Challenged Homeschoolers Associated Network) which has a page of articles on ADD / ADHD. I found this article titled “Simply Self-Controlled Special Needs Children” which had a lot of good information. This in particular stuck out:
Varying levels of hyperactivity in just one child in a family can make life stressful and disheartening for all. The hyperactive child tends to have a lot of energy, emotions, and independence and is usually very inquisitive and curious by nature. However, as we just said, these are not necessarily negative qualities. They simply are going to require more diligence and intense child training with a greater degree of restraint, guidance and channeling.
WOW! There is our life. IN PRINT. Someone DOES understand. It isn’t just me. I don’t know why reading things like this always seems to allow me to breathe easier. Again, I guess I get to believing that “it IS just me and there is nothing “special” about our son” and then I start doubting myself even more. So, I NEED to read things like this that let me know it ISN’T just me and we ARE in a special situation.
You see…we homeschool because we felt led by the Lord to do so. I see now that it was no accident. Our youngest son would NEVER survive in public school. They would drug him and squish his amazing personality in a few seconds without ever thinking twice.
Another friend shared this post “OCD, ADHD, ODD {Oh My!}” from The MOB Society. This post is by Clay & Sally Clarkson’s son, Nathan, sharing a bit of his story. It is a wonderful post about being different and being who God made you to be.
At home with us he has the opportunity to flourish and grow…being the beautiful person the Lord made…now…I just need to figure out how to help him, how to guide him.
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Have a wonderfully blessed day!
