So, my son is a little hyper. Errr, actually, that is a little white lie - he is extremely hyper, easily distracted, gets bored quickly, talks non-stop, is extremely impatient and he DOES NOT LISTEN! I always thought he had one of those ADD/ADHD conditions- But I was always told that boys and girls are different and that all those symptoms I listed above were common in boys. BS. My son, drives me crazy, and apparently he drives the teachers and administrators at his school crazy as well. And his soccer coaches...you get the picture. 

Well, after a text I received from a very exhausted 3rd grade teacher stating that she couldn't teach her lesson to her class because my sweet angel kept interrupting her, I decided to get him tested - FOR SOMETHING. At this point, I was willing to take whatever diagnosis I got and get meds filled and just have a different child (well, slightly differnt - ok, not all that different, but a calmer child, one who listens). I broke down when I made the appointment and I broke down again when I had to fill out the 100 page questionnaire about the symptoms he exhibited to make me feel like he had a disorder (not 100 pages, but LONG). I thought I was done crying. I told my son, the closer we got to the first appointment, that we are going to make him "better" and the doctor would be able to help us. Hmmm...

At the first appointment, my son was his usual charming self: Read - he was touching everything, whining about not being able to play on my phone, answering everything BUT the questions posed to him. I was waiting for the Doctor, bless her heart, to tell me - YES, he has SOMETHING! And we can prescribe this and that and he will magically be the calmer child you want/need/wished for! That never happened, what happened next left me in shock. She said, and I quote, "Ms. Hendricks, he seems pretty normal to me. I understand your concern, and we will proceed with testing, but don't be discouraged if he comes back with no apparent diagnosis." Cue birds chirping...

NOOOOOOOOO! What do you mean HE IS NORMAL????? Don't get me wrong, I love my mini-me. He is sweet and loving and just a ball of mushiness. But his constant disruptive behavior is exhausting. Truly. It is. I schedule the next round of appts. and after each one, I wait with a glimmer of hope that they would say, "Yes, he actually does HAVE something and we can fix it with ___" He has had four sessions and that hasn't happened , yet. What I do hear is "Your son is so smart! He passed all of his tests. Maybe he is just bored and needs to be challenged." 

Great. So, is there is a PILL for an exhausted mommy? I have the final session/diagnosis in 3 weeks. I am waiting patiently, and eveyday that I drop my son off to school, I say a little prayer that he will not get expelled. So far so good. In one way, I would love to not have to medicate him. Don't get me wrong - I know that for some medical conditions, it is necessary for parents to get their kids medication and it profoundly helps these kids. And that is a beautiful thing. But, if I don't have to, I won't. Now, the other issue - if he is just "Bored" what exactly do I need to do to stimulate this kid???? 

Until Next Time...

xoxo,

Rabiah