When Matthew was first diagnosed with ADHD I was quite overwhelmed.
Overwhelmed, first, with What do I do? and How do we handle this? questions. And overwhelmed, second, with the amazing outpouring of support I received from people who have dealt with ADHD kids - people who seemed to just show up from nowhere. It was incredible!
One of those supporters told me about Michael Phelps. He's an ADHD guy, and seemed to have found his "thing" in swimming. Found a place to exercise his focus and got himself a few nice shiny medallions and some world records to boot. I read an article about him with great encouragement. The article said when he was a youngster at the pool, he was usually the one sitting on the sidelines because of his raucous behavior.
I read and marveled at the reality that this kid was able to overcome his challenge, was able to find his niche and really make a difference.
We'll not mention the trouble he's gotten into since his rise to fame. I just wish someone had prepared him to handle it all with grace and dignity...
Anyhoo, the other night I was sitting in the van while Matthew was at soccer practice. I looked up to see the coach walking him to the sidelines and heard him say Matthew needed to take a five-minute time out. Prior to that exchange I had witnessed my son running when he shouldn't, and throwing the ball where he wasn't supposed to. I thought, Yes, a time out is entirely appropriate right now. And I was thankful for the coach's patience.
As I sat there looking at Matthew sitting on the sidelines, I recalled that article about Michael Phelps. I remembered the part which talked about him sitting on the side of the pool, because of his out-of-control behavior in the pool. And I wondered for just a moment, Will Matthew be part of a gold-medal-winning Olympic Soccer Team some day???
A Mom can hope! *grin*
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Hope From the Sidelines
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7 comments:
He already is Karen!
smooches,
Larie
Awww, Larie's comment was sweet.
:-)
My kids aren't ADHD but I still wonder what they're going to grow up to be. :-)
Oh, it's never easy to be a mom. Our kids come with their own individual set of instructions. And we spend our time as moms trying to figure them out!
I think all of us want to help our children find that thing that captures them and coaches/teachers that see their potential. I hope for your son it's soccer.
I'm still working on that with my own kids.
I have recently discovered my daughter has dyslexia. I have such guilt for taking so long to discover this and for all the times I have been so hard on her, thinking she just was being lazy or disobedient. I worry about her academic future sometimes but then on the other hand she is so blessed in the athletic department. She actually is a swimmer. God is showing me that He has His own seperate plans for each of my kids and I need to trust Him with that.
Thank you for your honesty.
Also wanted to thank you so much for taking the time to comment on my little blog. It has been so scary for me to write but I am just going to keep trying. Thanks!
Having an ADHD child can be SO difficult. Being an ADHD mom WHILE trying to raise an ADHD child is definitely challenging.
But you need to know this. Matthew will be fine because he has a mom that is learning more and more every day about his unfocused little eyes that are stareing at an ant while you are telling him to clean his room. You are learning to understand that he doesn't even realize that he is playing the drums on the table with his pencil while you are trying to help him with his home work.
Because you know him so well, you KNOW that if you tell him more than 2 things to do, he will most likely forget the second one before he even begins the first one. He may even forget the 1st one on the way to doing it!
Oh shoot.
What was I saying.
monkeys Are Funny
....he will have issues...haha. (as per my example above).
BUT he will have spirit, he will long for adventure, he will be a hands on kind of guy and will learn things quickly if people let him do it while they are explaining it to him. he will stick with whatever he does for as long as he can. He won't be a quitter.
If someone would have had any idea, or even cared about what I was going thru in school, perhaps I would have done better.
He will be funny....sometimes
at the most inappropriate times.
He may struggle with the school work, but life experiences will teach him more than any school book ever could.
He will love people and will probably want to do a job that will terrify you....ie, firefighter, race driver, sky diver,Marine, swat team, policeman, etc. Sitting behind a desk all day will drive him crazy!
He'll make you laugh and he'll make you want to wring his little neck. But when he is older and you want to talk to someone that will put a smile on your face, it will be him that you call. And he won't even realize what a wonderful gift that is.
Oh yeah, if he ever writes a blog, there is a strong possibility that he will ramble! lol
Have a great day!~!
That's the way...you go mom! Think good thoughts! These boys of ours that have revved up engines...who knows what they will do. Einstein, Edison...all flunked out of school! Those are the kind of things I tell myself! LOL! I loved this...it is so ME on some days! Love and hugs!
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