Loose Canon on Wheels!

Over the years I've read the warnings to parents about ADHD kids' safety or lack thereof. Seems many of them, or maybe the majority of these kids are reckless to say the least. None of that reading prepared me for my first journey into the world of bike-riding with my highly-impulsive 10 year old! We live outside city limits where homes have pastures between them and few cars drive by. Bobby has experienced bike-riding only in this setting....up until last week.

Ready for a new family hobby, the guys fixed up used bikes & I bought a new one. We dug out the helmets & bought our first bike rack for the back of the car. Off to town we headed, to ride bikes in seemingly quiet neighborhoods. I was pretty excited about this new venture, thinking the exercise and fresh air would be great for us all. Bobby would need a little guidance to get started but I really didn't think that would involve more than, "Stay on the right" and "Watch for cars." Wrong! I spent the first mile yelling into the wind, "GET YOUR FEET OFF THE HANDLEBARS!" Once he began using the pedals correctly, it was a myriad of unforseen issues such as riding in circles around me, swerving into me when passing me on the right & failing to come to complete stop at the signs. Where was his father? His back tire needed more air so we started without him. What could go wrong? After "we" improved our skills in a fairly quiet neighborhood, I decided to take him just a few more miles. Everything was going well when I turned left onto a side street and Bobby missed my cue. He was gone. We had no "game plan" for if we got separated so he chose to find his way back to the car on his own, crossing a busy street in the process. Sure, he made it ok, but we've put a back-up plan in place for next time we get separated. 

Enjoying the family bike time. Rode 20 miles yesterday along a beautiful country bike path. No cars or dogs! ADHD kids DO need strong guidance in the safety arena but with that all in place....they burn piles of wild-child energy & enjoy valuable time with Dad & Mom! Ok, Bobby, where are we headed next?

ADHD Bedroom/Disaster Zone

I can ignore my kids' bedrooms for quite some time, but there does come a point when I simply cannot pass the doorway without beginning to envision a cleaning spree. Today's my day off but rather than catch a few extra winks and eat a leisurely breakfast, I chose to bolt out of bed and begin sorting the chaos that is Bobby's bedroom! After a few trips to the garbage bin, scrubbing sticky goodness-knows-what gunk off the chair & desk, and adding 27 crumpled socks to the laundry pile, I'm fairly pleased. (I only wish I knew where those 3 frogs went!)

My son's ADHD makes it almost impossible for him to keep anything "sorted" or "organized." I've watched him try to use the labeled baskets & bins over the years but he simply can't stick to it. We've found that storing a good share of his toys in a locked closet helps so much. From time-to-time we swap out those toys & it's like Christmas all over again!

Today we begin again with a clean area. I warned him ahead of time I was "going in" so he won't be shocked when he gets home from school. The disaster zone command center is ready for my boy. Now, where's my breakfast?

"I Won't Let Go," Rascal Flatts

This song goes straight to my heart every time I hear it. We all face "fights" in life ~ loss and troubles of many kinds. My fight isn't harder than others, but it is very real, difficult & sometimes even painful. Hearing the words in this song gives me hope. Knowing that people care means more than anything in this world. Rascal Flatts, thanks for the lyrics to your fairly new hit:

Rascal Flatts - I Won’t Let Go Lyrics
It’s like a storm,
That cuts a path.
It breaks your will.
It feels like that.
You think you're lost,
But you're not lost on your own.
You're not alone.
I will stand by you.
I will help you through.
When you’ve done all you can do.
If you can’t cope,
I will dry your eyes.
I will fight your fight.
I will hold you tight,
And I wont let go.
It hurts my heart,
To see you cry.
I know it’s dark,
This part of life.
Oh it finds us all,
And we’re too small,
To stop the rain.
Oh but when it rains...
I will stand by you.
I will help you through.
When you’ve done all you can do,
And you can’t cope,
I will dry your eyes.
I will fight your fight.
I will hold you tight,
And I wont let you fall.
Don’t be afraid to fall.
I’m right here to catch you.
I won't let you down.
It won't get you down.
You're gonna make it.
Yeah, I know you can make it,
'Cause I will stand by you.
I will help you through.
When you’ve done all you can do,
And you can’t cope.
And I will dry your eyes.
I will fight your fight.
I will hold you tight,
And I wont let go.
Oh I’m gonna hold you,
And I won't let go.
Won't let you go.
No I won't.

Beautiful, meaningful words, Rascal Flatts!

Fast-Paced Kids In A Fast-Paced World

If you can hold still long enough to really process the following thought,  it could possibly make some sense. Many of our fast-paced kids come from fast-paced adults and a hurricane-paced society. Seriously, we adults - the ones they look up to, are dashing around at lightning-speed with our gadgets that don't let us get a second away from anything. We work several jobs, while running errands and eating on the go in between those jobs. Somehow, in the craziness, we are trying our best to raise well-adjusted kids who can sit still and remain calm while we zip about. We pride ourselves in owning everything that's needed to track our lifestyles and it's all branded "multifunctioning" like us! Family time consists of more and more meals around the big-screen t.v., shuffling rapidly through 150 channels while keeping a couple favorites in small side screens. (Darn it. If I can work 3 jobs I should be able to watch 3 shows at once.) Toss in a couple of laptops and our "family time" is complete.

And then there's entertainment: Game Cube, Xbox, DS, Wii, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance. I'm behind on all the latest but it's generally not "Monopoly" and "Slap Jack." Wow! My heart rate increased just writing all this!

We cannot think to change society's speed and drive at this point. Neither can we force our kids to live a different pace than we choose. I do not discredit the real affects of clinical ADHD. I do not suggest for a moment that the only factor in our kids' issues here is our pace. That would be to trivialize something larger than life. But as I sat still for 20 minutes this evening, I wondered if maybe 5% of Bobby's rate of motion comes from keeping up with us? And maybe, just maybe, if we keep looking for ways to "get away from it all," and relax in nature, he will benefit too.