If your child has ADHD, have you set up a meeting with your child’s teacher or at least written a note to him/her letting them know about it and explaining some of their challenges? One of the most important steps to your child’s scholastic success is a relationship of trust with your child’s teachers.
Plan for a successful day tomorrow, by preparing for it tonight. Start routines that will help you have everything ready to go
in the morning. Lay out your clothes. Pack you bag. Charge you phone. Plan your breakfast. Make a to-do list of important things that need to get done the next day. Set the alarm clock and get to bed early. Have a great day tomorrow!
Where would we be without calendars? I love to use the Google calendar because it’s color coordinated, fun and I can check it one my Droid, but you might want to get one of those gigantic, plastic, write-on-with-erasable-marker type calendars and hang it where everyone can see it. A great way to stay organized!
The first place I like to start cleaning is my closet, getting rid of all the chalk-stained, ripped and shrunken-in-the-dryer items. Nothing worse than showing up at an event & discovering that i have a big stain on my shirt or that my socks are showing. The nice thing is that for my efforts i like to reward myself by buying NEW clothes. 😀
I am a big believer in the “dress for success” philosophy and that dressing well can be a big confidence booster. I’m way past school cliques and peer pressure, yet if what I’m wearing & how I look affects my attitude, I can only imagine ho…w kids having a closet that’s back-to-school ready is kind of a big deal. Speaking of deals, I know that money is tight for most parents, so here are some deals and coupons that I found for you guys. Now that’s love!
“If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.” John Wooden
I have mentioned before that I enjoy cooking. There was a time when I thought I might turn in my cooking apron (and yes real men wear aprons) because of some real bad turkey gravy. WOW did I mess that gravy up good. I thought for sure my wife would never eat another meal I made. After my wife got over her majorly upset stomach I was surprised that she asked me a few days later what I was making for dinner. I said, “you sure you want to eat my cooking again?” She said, “So you messed up once, now you know what not to make!” When it comes to cooking I’m still a doer! 😀
A very late in the day (What can i say, I’ve been working my tail off here at the YCM conference in TN. 🙂 “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”
This quote reminds me of the time I set my house on fire. I blame my wife! She had me remodel our 2nd floor bathroom years back while I was off my medication. I cut some corners because I got impatient – Oh and to top it off, I also cut a supporting beam that kept the toilet from falling through the ceiling. A couple of years later, while remodeling the kitchen, a friend who is in the construction business pointed out my “oops”! Good thing too! Looked like that toilet was getting ready to plunge through the ceiling. 😀
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” John Wooden
I spent too many years tying to be the person everyone else wanted me to be, a person who didn’t have ADHD. I cared so much about what others thought of me and fitting in that I spent little time discovering who I truly am. We are unique for a reason. Celebrate that!
Surely you have heard, read, or seen that legendary coach John Wooden died a few weeks ago. He was legendary in the minds of basketball players, fans, coaches, analysts, and the record books but far be it for “the coach” to ever consider such a distinction in his own mind. Much that Coach Wooden has said and even more that has been said about him defines who he was and what his life stood for. This weeks I would like share some powerful thoughts from this amazing man.
“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.” John Wooden
Parents! No one expects you to be superman or wonder woman, though it sure feels like the demands of daily life require just those kinds of super powers. Remember what I said earlier this week about putting yourself in “timeout” to catch your breath? I hope this weekend you do just that! Have a great one!
The fine folks at Time Timer sent me a couple of their timers to test & evaluate and you know what? I love those things!! It’s basically an alarm for people who lose track of time easily. But, it’s not just any alarm, it’s also VISUAL alarm! I use it while working in the office, and it works with kids too. Whether keeping track of how much time they have left in the pool or in time out, it’s a great tool. 😀 And they have an Iphone app as well! Bonus!
www.timetimer.com
A degree of structure & discipline should be maintained thru the summer. I like posting a list of rules where the kids can see them. I also believe in a reward/punishment system – nothing too complicated or military-like, but something that helps them grasp the concept of choices & consequences.
I think they key to this having any kind of benefit is two-fold: 1. You have to be consistent & stick with it and 2. You have to keep changing things up in the rewards department to keep it interesting for the kids and to keep them motivated to keep trying to do the right thing. I know that this is not a sure-fire way to get your kids to behave, and certainly the pay-off is not immediate, but without creating some kind of a well-defined reward/punishment system for kids to learn good behavior from bad, I really can’t imagine how they can become more manageable. Anyone else have any suggestions about teaching kids the concept of choices & consequences?
If you’re at the end of your rope with a child that is in constant need of your attention, you might be the one needing the “time out”. Consider summer camp! Some cater to kids with ADHD, others to a special interest that your child may have. Local public schools often offer day camps. Also check with your local church which may offer Vacation Bible School. A few days “off” can help get u feeling a bit more sane & hopeful.
As much as I talk about the joy of ADHD, I don’t want to negate the challenges that come with it especially for parents of young kids who have it. Most of my experiences come from being an ADHDer & where I am with it now as an adult, but now that I have kids, & both of them are displaying various ADHD traits I am being forced to look at ADHD through different eyes.
This week is dedicated to all those parents who have to endure the “insanity” that is a young child with ADHD. You guys are amazing! Hang in there, it will get easier as your child gets older and takes more responsibility for their actions.
A few years ago, I got into doing Stand-up comedy & it was quite the learning experience. I wanted to do it & then I also didn’t. It was a scary, & unpredictable; sometimes no one laughed & it was very humbling. Worth it though because my speaking got a lot better & I learned a lot about being on stage.
A good friend of mine and a funny comedian, Kenn Kington gave me my first shot at doing a real Stand-up comedy show back in 2004. I opened up at one of his Ultimate Comedy Theatre and had a blast! This is a short clip from the show. Thanks Kenn for giving me a chance to try something totally scary!
What do you want to try that totally scares you? Find time this summer to dip your toes into “the scary” in your life. Life is too short to let fear dictate what you do & where you go in life!