Ryan is a weird kid.  Occasionally you can talk to him like he is an adult and he will listen.  I remember the first time I initiated a heart to heart with him when he was three.  He had been playing around with potty training but was being stubborn.  One afternoon before his nap I put him on the potty.  I was so tired from working the night before and I decided to explain to him the benefits of potty training like I would to an adult.  He was trained within that hour and had one accident a few days after.

This morning I decided that Ryan and I needed to chat. After my post last night I decided to bring out the rarely used heart to heart.  I told him that I knew it was spring and I knew he missed going to the park with Aaron and I in the morning. I told him that we missed him too.  I said that he had only a little over a month of kindergarten left and that he should try to monitor his behavior so that he could enjoy every minute of it. I told him that in a month he’d be with Aaron and I more, doing what he wanted to do, and I promised that the summer would be as fun as I could make it but he needed to go and do his very best at school everyday.

We hugged, I smelled his hair, and kissed him.

I walked with Aaron to get Ryan after school.  I was trying to enjoy the amazing weather but truthfully my stomach was in my throat.  We got to the school and the walk across the yard seemed to take a month.  I got to the door and there was Ryan with a huge grin on his face.  I glanced over and he had gotten a green on the behavior chart for the day. The teacher pulled me aside and told me that Ryan had the best day of the school year and told both of us just how happy she was with his behavior for the day.

After repeatedly telling him how proud I was of his behavior I asked him what he did different.  He told me he tried harder.  He said he understood that his ADHD makes school hard but he wanted to have fun in school not trouble.  We spent a lot of time outside this evening after attending a convenient school fund-raiser at a local ice cream shop.  The kindergarten teacher pulled me aside again and told me how different he was today.

We may never win the ADHD war but this battle feels won.

I want to thank each and every person who took time to comment, email, or message me on facebook.  I felt so much better knowing so many people from so many different periods in my life took the time to reach out when I was feeling at the end of my rope.  Parenting can be isolating and ADHD parenting is a whole new level of isolation. Knowing you all were out there thinking of me or praying made me feel comforted.  Thank you from the bottom of  my heart.