A Day in the Life - Introduction

A day in the life is going to be written by me, a wife of one and mother of four. I plan to write about a day or a moment in the life of a child who is ADHD. I am going to say from the front that this is entirely a reflection of my experience of what it is like to be ADHD as a child. It is not a generalization of how all children behave but I know there will be mirrors and reflections for those of you who are on a very similar journey.

I am 44 years old and have been married for 18 years. We have four beautiful boys. The oldest is 13 and the youngest is 7.  Parenting 4 boys has been a fantastic learning experience. Not being a boy myself, I find the way a boy brain works quite phenomenal. 

From the sorts of games they are drawn to right down to the kinds of topics they want to talk about is quite different to a girl…. That is me.

It is difficult to separate that which is all boy from that which is personal likes and dislikes. In the very same way, it is difficult to separate the ADHD stuff from the personality of the child. And yet as I say this I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that there are behaviour and ways of thinking that my 2 ADHD children have and use in life that are different from other boys and indeed other children.

Let me tell you a little about myself. I am a teacher. I finished studying in 1992 and have a had a great variety of teaching jobs both in South Africa and in the UK where we lived for 5 years. When I qualified there were two things I knew for sure. One was that I really liked children and the second; I knew absolutely everything there was and is to know about children. Boy was I arrogant and naive.  Over the years God has called me to a very different journey from the one I thought I was on. I know he does this to us all really, but it came as quite a surprise to me. Part of this amazingly different journey has been the realization and the facing up to having 2 children who are ADHD.

I know the struggles and pain, the great joys and laugh out loud moments; the secret fears and hopeful hopes a mother. When one has a child on the ADHD spectrum, these all just multiply.

I have met up with countless moms and some dads who experience and express these kinds of fears. Some have no idea what ADHD is or where to turn. Some, like me, have tried to read and educate ourselves but are still faced with our own struggles and real disappointments despite a wealth of information. 

I hope that these little stories are an encouragement to you dear reader. May some of the ideas and information I share be a real blessing to you. I pray that you will not feel alone but know that there are many, many parents just like you who are walking the journey.