Coming Out

Over the last few months, I've become a lot more zen. I'm not sure if it's age, work, kids, friends, meditation... I've really tried to 'let it go' on a lot of things. In fact, I had that line, 'let it go', tattooed on my person. Just as a reminder.

And, well, today is the day that I let something go. A secret. Only a few close friends know. It's come time to just share the news. I'm tired. I'm tired of a lot of things - but mostly I'm tired of judge-y fucking mothers. Some of you know who you are, some of you don't. Either way - I don't care any more. Seriously. Go fuck yourselves.


Here it is:

I've got a kid with ADD. 

And, you know what? It sucks.


First there is the stigma - probably something that actually kept us from taking care of the problem earlier was the idea that 'we'd have a kid with ADD'. Because we did something wrong. Guess what? We did all the things. ALL THE THINGS. Perfect diet. Perfect babysitter. Pre-school. Private all day kindergarten. Tutors. Library. Sports.

The only time of day that's easy

And still? Honestly? The kid, well, he was a bit of an asshole. He was bright - so smart. But, he just could't pay attention. He wasn't disruptive. He just wasn't paying attention. So, when you'd ask him a question, he had no idea what you wanted or why. Because he was quite literally on the moon. Lash out. Ugliness. Escalation.

Doctor visits. Diet changes. Strict scheduling. No change. No change. No change. Finally, we relented. We tried a prescription.

It worked.

Oh my God, did it work. Within hours. The soccer coach noticed. The reading teacher noticed. We noticed at home. He didn't turn into a robot as I suspected he would. He's the same. Just focused. Sweeter. Friendlier. Easier to get along with.

All the 'Needs Improvement' up to 'Satisfactory'. The 'Satisfactory' to 'Outstanding'. The penmanship tidy. Test scores greatly improved. Reading for FUN.

And then, well, and then... today I hold in my hand the certificate for Student of the Month. The angry, short tempered kid that just couldn't pay attention is the Student of the Month. For none other than: Cooperation.

Holy God!

So, to all you judge-y moms out there - suck it. Some of you were part of the reason I didn't get him treated sooner. I was ashamed of my own son and my failure. Thanks to the pressure of totally uninformed bitchy moms.

And, guess what?

I won't fail him like that again. 

Only next time you want to judge - one of you might end up with a mouth full of teeth.