A few days ago Leo told David that he had a hole in one of his pairs of pants, but he couldn't remember which pair. David asked Leo to point out the hole the next time that he found it. So one afternoon as we were about to serve dinner David and I were standing in the kitchen near the sink when Leo comes in, sits down on the floor, tilts his torso back and raises and spreads his legs. He points to a small separation in the seam of the crotch of his pants and says "Here's my hole, Daddy." David and I both suppressed smiles and David thanked him for pointing out the hole. Once Leo left I turned to David and smiled, saying "He has a hole down there." David said, "Yes, I'm aware of that now."
On a more somber note, Leo spends three afternoons a week at the Child Development Center (CDC) at school. It's basically child care for parents who work and can't pick their kids up right after school. We have Leo there so that he has more time to play with other kids, and to give David a break. Yesterday Leo told David that he spent all afternoon playing video games on the computer because no one would play with him. David asked why and Leo said that he didn't know. I suspect that it was his ADHD, which makes him impatient and impulsive, sometimes blurting out thoughts that he should keep inside. We feel bad for Leo, and we're going to try another change in his medications this week.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
awww you seem like a really happy family :D
ReplyDeleteMy oldest, now nearly 17, has a moderate case of ADHD. He's been taking concerta for years. I would have preferred any other solution besides drugs but honestly, nothing else seemed to help. To this day, I can tell in about 5 seconds when he hasn't taken his medicine yet. He gets really physical; usually poking incessantly at me, his brother or his sister.
ReplyDeleteAnyway - he did not have the easiest childhood. Once other kids decided he was annoying, that reputation followed him until we changed schools for 6th grade. I don't know of any easy solutions for smooth socializing. I have two (obvious) suggestions. First, ask the daycare people what they observe. Second, perhaps David can spend some time observing at the daycare center himself. Investing the extra time can be a big commitment but the earlier you address the issues the fewer problems you'll have in the future.
If he is physically hyper and/or undisciplined like my kid, he may do poorly in team sports. My kid could never follow the rules for long and that quickly made him a liability on the team and therefore an outsider. After trying team sport after team sport, someone suggested that I try an individual sport, so I did, karate. He's been doing that 5 days a week for nearly 9 years. It's become a central, positive part of his life and his self-image, which otherwise would have been VERY negative based on school work and social acceptance.
Computer games are natural draws for many kids, especially boys. For ADHD kids they can become addictive. As best you can, try to keep his interests diverse in these younger years. Changing habits as they get older and more independent can be a real challenge.
Sorry for writing so much!
Manu, we're happy most of the time, thanks.
ReplyDeleteTwoLives, we had heard the same things about sports. Soccer didn't go too well, and we now have Leo in karate. He enjoys it and may test for his first belt soon.