ADD and ADHD live in our home.
They take a seat at our table, front row seat at the TV and are in our everyday lives.
Our almost 8-year-old lives and grows through the challenges of ADD and ADHD every day. I see him struggle and triumph every.single.day.
We try all types of disciple and all types of parenting styles to help him succeed. I’ve listened to countless podcasts, read magazines and articles and books on the topic. I yearn to be an expert on the topic to help him be the best Max he can be.
It is exhausting.
We have been blessed with amazing teachers (we don’t pick, we get what we get and we don’t throw a fit). Even last year with all of the Covid drama, we still had a great support system for our son. We are in constant contact with the teachers about our son’s behavior and expectations and reinforce them in our home.
Over the past few weeks, since the beginning of this school year, we have been dealing with some BIG emotions for our guy. He’s been a little EXTRA, so we have been trying, once again, some new techniques and tweaking what we are doing as far as discipline and hoping to see results. This led me to contact his teachers since the year has started, twice. After the first week of school, we checked in with his two teachers and got a thumbs up from both that he was a typical 2nd grader and learning the ropes.
After a week that would make Duane “The Rock” Johnson weep, I checked in again with his teachers. Both teachers said that he had some yelling out, but things were going alright. His teacher asked ME what I was concerned about and I shared with her our BIG emotions and we were hoping that they were not being shown at school.
Then the email came today.
It wasn’t an awful email, just some observations she had made about our son, an event that had happened that day. I knew that when he got home from school, I would give him the opportunity to tell me what had happened, and give him a chance to tell me how she disciplined him, and that is just what I did, and his response brought me to tears.
As he approached me on the porch, I asked him to sit and talk to me about his day. He showed me his papers crumpled in his backpack and explained each one to me. I asked him how his reading went with Mrs. S. He said it was fine, but he blurted out (typical behavior for him), and I asked him what Mrs. S said to him.
He looked at me with the sweetest eyes and said:
“Well Mom she said, ‘Max, I’m glad you are here.'”
“I am glad you are here,” six words that made me melt. Cue this momma’s tears.
She then asked him if there was anything she could do to help him feel calm, and then told him a better way to raise his hand and wait his turn when he wants to add something to the conversation.
This teacher is happy my son and his ADD and ADHD are in her class. She is glad that MY son, who is a handful at times and precious at times and smart and funny and amazing and challenging all rolled into one, is there.
Mic drop.
Mrs. S. showed such tenderness and kindness to our boy and his friends ADD and ADHD. She didn’t yell or scream or get frustrated, she told him she was glad he was there.
I’m confident that tweaking a few things and a call to our doctor will help him become an even better Max than he was before. Wow, what a blessing our teacher is to our district and to the second graders that get to have her as their teacher.
Mrs. S, I’m glad YOU are there and my son is so glad he is there, too.