The Three Middle Toes

Timmy, now in year 5, usually calls me when he gets home from school everyday with the usual.
Can I have ___ to eat?

Today he added some philosophical talk, it went like this;
     Mom, do you know the big thumb toe?  [yes]
     and the little pinky toe?  [yes]
    Well those three in the middle are awesome! [they are, why?]
    Because they all work together. [oh]
    and sometimes the little toe goes with them. [ooh]

____________________________________________________

Cups that know who you are  http://www.mycolourcup.com/

Timmy Talk

Timmy will be 9 in a couple of months. 

I can't believe its been a whole year since he was diagnosed with ADHD.  He has been doing better in school since before the meds, but he is still my Timmy and the funniest things come out of his mouth.  Here are a couple I remember.

His favourite saying spoken several times a week no matter what time of day; "chocolate is brain food"

When confronted with doing his get ready for school chores he informed me that; "its not chores its life"

Timmy wanted to know if the scar on his knee was from stitches. I told him that was scar tissue. Which he replied: "So the doctor put a tissue in it?"

BRAKE BRAAAAKE!

Has anyone seen the movie “Unstoppable” with Denzel Washington?  We went as a family this past weekend.  It’s a movie about a runaway train that is you guessed it - UNSTOPPABLE.  Timmy was too funny throughout the movie.  You could tell he was frustrated by the people in the movie by his gestures.  He would slap his knee with his hand and give a good ARGH sound.  Wrap his arms around his legs and rock back and forth.  Oh and all the solutions that he tried to tell us on how to stop THAT train.  And the funniest was his outburst of “BRAKE , BRAAAAKE’.

Focused on What Matters

As a family we spent this past 4th of July at the nursing home of Timmy's great grandma.  It was a great day - music, food and 4 generations of my husbands family.

While we were around the table eating our celebration chicken, burgers, corn on the cob Timmy was focused on Granny.  Talking to her and holding her hand.  When her blended food came Timmy turns to Granny and says; "Do you want your daughter now".  He said this in the softest voice I have ever heard come out of his mouth and the senserity was overwhelming.  He was so gentle, thoughtful and aware of the moment.

Timmy was focused on what mattered at that point in time.   And that was that family matters.

MyColourCup - the personalised cup with a twist
http://www.mycolourcup.com.au/

Rebranding ADHD kids

                          

                            Always

                            Doing Something,

                            Happy & 

                            Distinctive Individuals

I have always been on the receiving side of peoples comments about my son. Many not said out loud, but an expression says a thousand words.  I want to express that kids with ADHD are unique, not always appropriate, but have a love of life that should not be ignored.  These kids live for the moment and we all should step back and see what they have to teach us from their point of view, versus point out all their flaws.  

Always Doing Something - they have no regrets and take risks

Happy - they live for the moment

Distinctive Individuals - they are unique characters that distinquish themselves from others

My son is an ADHD kid!

Coffee Timmy Style

Coffee on a weekend morning - there is nothing like it.  The coffee aroma that seeps into the bedroom, the rush of caffeine the swirls in your head, and the social atmosphere and relaxation. Just the way I like it. I love weekends.

Even my 8 year old Timmy knows how to make me a cuppa.  But sometimes he tries to make it better - in his mind. One time he thought maybe extra sugar would be better.  This morning he proudly brings me the coffee he fixed. I looked inside and saw brown floating flecks swirling around the creamy light brown coffee. I had to stop myself from yelling - I really wanted that cup of coffee.  "It has more flavor now" Timmy was trying to explain.  Coffee with grounds.

From his ramblings, while trying to screen out the grounds in my last cup, I got an insight on his next coffee version. Why not mix the grounds, sugar, and creamer from the start.

Coffee with Love!

Timmy @ 2

While on holiday in America,Timmy's babysitter Sabina was telling a flashback Timmy story.  I had forgot all about it.  Now I have my blog to remember.

It was early in the morning, the day after Halloween.  I had already gone to work (that would be about 5:30am to miss the traffic in Northern VA, yuck) and Sabina,who graciouslly came over the house in the dark,was sleeping on the couch when the doorbell rang.  Our neighbor Nancy, who lived across the street, was standing there with Timmy and asked; "Do you want this?"

Nancy explained how she also woke to a doorbell and a little boy with his hand held out saying; "Candy, Candy!"

We knew then that there was something about Timmy.

Ramblings from an 8 year old

Just got back from a holiday in the America.  Lots of recorded Timmy stories. 

TIMMY SAID;

1. "Santa Claus is real but the Simpsons aren't real because there are no yellow people.  There are black and white people and tan people, which are like white people."
2. "Pasta and pizza baby!" A phrase said over and over again throughout the whole holiday with conviction.)
3. "Do you know where I came from?"
   What he asked the father of the kid he had been playing with all day while at Stone Harbor beach in NJ.
4. "Holy Camole, Holy Camole!  Shouting from the top of his lungs while running in the house to inform everyone of the big shark caught by his Uncle Curry.
5. "Mrs Smith is my fairy godmother, because she looks after me more than any other teacher."  Mrs Smith was his 1st grade teacher.
6. I overhead a conversation at Splashdown waterpark between Timmy and a little Indian boy wearing a bathing cap covering his turban.  It started with a pointing finger;

Timmy;  "What's that?"
Indian boy;  "Its my religion"
Timmy; "Let me see!"
Indian boy;  "I can't get it wet"
Determined Timmy; "Get on the snake - then show me"  ..snake was floating in the middle of the pool.
Indian boy; "I can't show it to anyone"  ...yeah that finally satisfied Timmy's curiosities.

I Sent my Kid to School Today on Speed

Okay, so that is what they give a kid on ADHD. But it still does not change the fact that he is on speed. I suppose two negatives make a positive.  I felt like there should be drum rolls but instead there were only butterflies in my stomach.
• Did we do the right thing? Will this help him?
• Will this allow him to focus in school? He definitely is getting behind every day.
• Will he have an adverse reaction? He had to take an EKG to make sure his heart was healthy.
• Will he be different and lose that forever smile? Don't want his personality to change only the annoying bits.
• And will I have any new material for my blog? It's been fun writing this blog.
• And on, and on and on. I usually don't worry about things but today was different. I had a whole 7 years worth of worrying about Timmy and his extreme behavior - and now in this one day it could change forever.

So this morning he cooked himself eggs and had an egg sandwich and a 5 mg tablet of Dexamphetamine. We drove to school and before dropping him off I looked into his eyes and asked him how he felt. He told me he had a headache, and then he said his stomach ached. Not making me feel any better, but I told him it was probably the big egg sandwich in his belly. I went into the classroom to observe a bit prior to the school bell. I then heard the famous "TIMMY" coming from one of his classmates. Timmy had picked up two koalas that were under the classroom gum tree and was attempting to put them in the tree. I guess the "TIMMY" caller was the owner of the koalas. Timmy very nicely said you can put one in the tree and I'll put the other one in the tree. The kid just grabbed the two stuffed animals, with no dramas from Timmy.

• Hopefully the standard "TIMMY" yell will be less.
• Maybe his lone desk with the masked tape boundary will migrate to one of the desk groups.
• He definitely needs to catch up on his school work.
• Can do without those monthly school meeting on Timmy’s behavior.
I kept thinking about him all day long, wondering whether the blinking message light on my phone was the school calling. I picked him up from his classroom and he was running out with the rest of the kids - seemed normal.

I looked into his eyes and asked him how his day went.
He said; "Great"
I asked him if he got put into the thinking chair.
He said; "No"
Then he paused and was thinking hard by the look on his face and said well.....I did get into a fight at lunch, but he was fighting ME! Then out comes the teacher with a big grin on her face - must have been a good day. She said he did great, sat when he was supposed to sit, and raised his hand. She said it was if Timmy wasn't even there. I think she meant that the elephant in the room wasn't there. She said she noticed the drug wore off a bit towards the middle of the day and Timmy became bit louder. I was even pulled aside from the vice principal who told me how wonderful Timmy was in music and art class.

I can't wait to observe him this weekend.


Product that takes the guesswork out of knowing who's cup is who's http://www.mycolourcup.com.au/

Do You Want To Be My Friend?

You learn a lot from a kid who knows no boundaries.  Imposing on others is norm and opens up a world of opportunities that might not ever have surfaced.  We went camping this weekend to Ormiston Gorge in the Northern Territory of Australia.  With camping come close neighbors and with close neighbors come direct access to friends, at least in the eyes of a 7 year old.  It was a bit painful as parents as it might be construed as imposing.  I don't think people impose on others like they did in the past, which has built a world of segregated families. 

We did the customary greetings as camp site neighbors.  But for a kid it goes like this; "Do you want to be my friend?".  That's all that was needed for Timmy to gain entry into the campsite next to us.

Timmy was drawn like a magnet to their campsite.  He had a new found friend, Jordan.  I would hear him every once in a while say; "what was my friends name?" and then explain; "it take a couple of days for me to remember a friends name"

Not wanting him to be a nuisance we were constantly calling him back over to our site, which ended up a being a battle between Timmy and Craig, me and Craig.  Then we sent in Zach, his 11 year old brother, to make sure he wasn't being annoying.  Then they brought out the marshmallows and a gas burner and we lost both Timmy and Zach to the camp neighbors. We came prepared to make smores on a open fire but Ormiston did not allow wood fires.  After awhile I wandered over and started talking to Jordans parents, which eventually brought Craig over, not wanting to be camping by himself.  We found out a lot about our camp neighbors like; they live in Alice Springs, that there are hidden treasures all over the world and there were 30 treasures in Alice Springs and you can find these treasures via gps and geocaching http://www.geocaching.com/.  We had a good time talking and eating smores.

The rest of the weekend we spent hiking, rock hole swimming and camp clean up.

On the two hour ride home Timmy had his feet on the back of Craigs seat.  Craig said; 
Your feet stink"
Timmy replied; "Well.... you just have to get use to it."

That night while putting Timmy to bed I asked him what was the best thing of the weekend?
He replied; "My friend!"


Zach and Timmy at the waterhole

Grasshopper friends

The rains brought heaps of grasshoppers to the desert.

I got off work early one day and decided to pick up the boys from school.  After entering Timmys room I has pulled aside - I was getting that dreaded look. The look where I wish I was very very small and not there.  The teacher informed me that Timmy was being cruel to the grasshoppers and his classmates were getting upset. Okay no one should be cruel to Gods creatures. 

So when I asked him why he was being cruel to the grasshoppers he told me if you take the legs off the grasshoppers they will not hop away - they can be your friend.

I wasn't sure how to react to that one - so I just gave him a hug.

Keeping with the grasshopper theme - on their last day of term 1 all the kids got to experience the taste of a cooked grasshopper.  My husband is calling foul  - how can you not ask parents for permission with all those food allergies.  I just thought it was cool.

Timmy ate 5 grasshoppers, but took off the legs because they were spiky.
Zach ate 1 and all his friends followed.

----------------------------------------------
Check out this personalized product that brought occasional sanity to our family.
http://www.thepersonalizedcup.com/

APXGHN3HJ2MJ

Possible ADHD victim

Well we finally endorsed THE letter.

THE letter that spells out the past three years of Timmy's life.

THE letter that has the words impulsivity, hyperactivity, and risk-taker.

THE letter that allows us to go down the path of Timmy being an ADHD victim.

THE letter that in a way gives some sort of explanation of Timmy.

I remember when he was little playing on the play ground and I felt I had to watch him all the time thinking that he might not be understood, or that he might be too overbearing or too rough.  Well that has been going on since he was 4.

The next steps are seeing a child pediatrician.  That could take awhile in Australia. We will know soon enough.  Stay tuned.

Check out the product that brought occasional sanity to our family. http://www.thepersonalizedcup.com/

Timmy the Magician

Timmy the magician shows how he can be in two places at one time.  It happens really, really quickly.

Craig pulls into the driveway and spots Timmy on the roof.  Craig comes into the house, Timmy is in the shower.

Then comes the look - the one where he tries to looked innocent, after all he was in the shower at the time.

Oh yeah he tried to lie his way out of it.  Then painfully told the truth.  Then had no TV, no computer, and no play station for the day.


Check out this personalized product that brought occasional sanity to our family. http://www.thepersonalizedcup.com/

Timmy Story x 2

My husband and I exchanged "Timmy Stories" after work the other day and I went first.

I was entering Timmys room that morning to wake him up for school and I smelled vomit.  His pillow was wet, but there were no chunks.  I looked around for the chunks - no chunks anywhere, just the smell.  The waking Timmy was rolling around and I hear this crinkling sound like that of a baby's toy.  It was coming from his pillow.  After inspection of the pillow I find a one kilo bag of once frozen peas/carrots under his pillow case.  Timmys reply was "My pillow was hot"

Craig was driving home from picking Timmy up from Lil Antz afterschool care and got a thumbs up from a passing car.  Only the driver was delivering the thumbs up to the back seat passenger.  Looking in his rear-view mirror Craig spies Timmy with half his finger lost inside his nose.  So he yells to the back seat "Pick me a winner".  Holding up his finger Timmy exclaims: "It's a loser".

I wonder what happens at school?

Check out this personalized product that brought occasional sanity to our family. http://www.thepersonalizedcup.com/

Middle of the Sea

I overheard a conversation that just explains everything about our Timmy, a 7 year old borderline ADHD kid. He had his little friend Christina over for a swim. They were playing some game that involved boogie boards and jumping in the pool.

Timmy, perched on top of the pool ladders handles tells Christina; "go into the middle of the sea"

Christina; "huh?" {we have a 15 foot round above ground pool}

Timmy; "go into the middle of the pool"

Christina; "are you going to jump on me?"

She definitely knows our Timmy and has learned a very key rule in life;

NEVER MAKE ASSUMPTIONS!.

This is the third agreement in a book I just read called "The Four Agreements" that explains the Toltec (an ancient Mexican ethic group, teachings on life). A quote from the book; "Everything we do is based on agreements we have made - agreements with ourselves, with other people, with God, with life"

The four agreements are;

The first - Be true to your word

The second - Don't take anything personally

The third - Never make assumptions

The fourth - Always do your best.

Its a great book with a lot of wisdom and some great rules for living.

Check out this personalized product that brought occasional sanity to our family.

http://www.thepersonalizedcup.com/

Timmy

Always a sparkle in his eyes
That no teacher could deny

His smile is like a crocodile
Charming all that passed by, while

Energy and excitement abound
Like a stirring twister gaining ground

Bright ideas fill his head
No stopping him unitl they are all said

No student could escape his latest stimulation
The colourful artist was his inspiration, the teachers lesson his motivation

Paper, paint and brush all ready
Two at a time, it was him and Eddy

Colourful paints and white blank paper
Blind eyes and mind in a caper

A daub of black here, a daub of blue there
Heaps of paint everywhere

Swish, swish, swish, splat, splat, splat
Dribble, drip, splotch, splash

No colour that reflects all light
His masterpiece was dark as night

Holding up the painting with his arms
Oblivious to the impending harm

Drip, drop, splat on chair
Drip, drop, splat on hair

TIMMY, TIMMY students yell
STOP, STOP till silenced fell

Paint still dripping on his head and this is what he said;
"Dinosaurs are dead"

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Check out this personalized product that brought occasional sanity to our family.
http://www.thepersonalizedcup.com/