Skip to main content

Candy, Lithium and an Extraordinary Life

No sooner do I wonder when the next full moon is and low and behold it is upon us! Preston has had mounds of excess energy in the last couple of days but has channeled it well. He had a moment of 'craziness' to which I asked him where it was coming from and the big confession... wait for it... wait for it... drum roll... SMARTIES at school. Honestly, why is there so much candy at school - all the time? So many teachers know of the rigors of kids with ADHD and that colors irk their little brains, yet, candy flows like a waterfall. And holidays, birthday's, special 'awards' all come with candy! How in the world would I start a campaign to ban colored candy from our schools? Seriously. Anyway, that's all for my big rant. He's calm again. Maybe I need to think more about what over-stimulated him in that moment instead of banning candy from school. The former seems a little more realistic and take-onable.

The original thinking behind my post tonight (which wasn't SMARTIES - but OI!) was actually regarding lithium. I honestly don't know much about it other than what Dr. John Gray mentions in his podcast (which I have now posted on the ADHD page for easy access). Lithium is a natural mind and mood enhancer. Sugar depletes lithium in the brain and guess what we burn alot of when we are stressed? Yep, sugar, and there goes our lithium stores. Dr. Gray recommends lithium orotate for kiddos with ADHD because of its mind and mood enhancing properties. He also recommends it for women as we tend to burn through our stores quicker than men. I don't know about you, but I start off my day (mostly) with a decent amount of energy and positive projections for the day which decreases as the day wears on. Funny that right around when Preston gets home from school my energy reserves are starting to dip - the exact time when I need it the most - queue dramatic music: for homework! Trying to do homework with Preston can be like trying to catch a greased pig. Hence, I've started taking a lithium orotate right before he gets home from school and honestly I think its magic. My mom came by to help this afternoon and I slipped her one too (not like a Mickey, I handed the pill to her and she took it un-coerced) and I could tell a noticeable difference in her. I talked to her not to long ago and she was asking me where to get it because she felt a difference too.

The Lithium Orotate, GSE and Vitamin B I order from VRP Research Products, http://www.vrp.com/. As for any profound thoughts (which I am always looking for because I rely on them when the going gets tough, which is everyday) consider that "God gave us these children to make Christians out of us." I laughed because sometimes the way I handle Preston is not Christ-like, therefore it ain't workin'! But it was a good thought in that kids, especially with challenges, are very humbling and stretch us to our limits. And only when we are stretched, do we become stronger and grow. Trying to work with Preston has meant trying multiple forms of discipline, treatments, and some soul-searching on my part. I also randomly pulled John O'Hurley's book Before Your Dog Can Eat Your Homework, You Have To Do It from my shelf and opened it up to a random page and read the following:

"You have two choices in life: You can have an ordinary life, or you can have an extraordinary life. That's it. An extraordinary life has nothing to do with money or power, but it has everything to do with the power of your choices. In an environment of opportunity, we are responsible for both the direction and the quality of the results of our lives."

I read just a little further and this really struck me as he was writing this to his son:

"Will, I wish you many parents in your life, mentors who will join me in giving you examples of excellence. It is so much easier to be a champion when you are surrounded by them. Sadly, it is much more difficult for people to succeed when they are encircled by the ordinary. "(77,78)

We are definitely not encircled by the ordinary. I wish you all success in choosing an extraordinary life.

Comments

  1. I tried the "dog ate my homework ploy" too. I could never figure out why it never worked!
    Love this blog!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ah The Joys Of Summer!

Life is nuts isn't it? And we all know that it never really calms down - the challenges simply change. School's out. Yay!! (No - that's not me talking, that's my kids). My two youngest are fighting like the world might end tomorrow and they need to let each other know how annoying and despicable the other one thinks they are. The toddler manhandles Preston's Lego car and Preston throws it in anger yelling that the toddler ruined it - and not just the Lego car - his LIFE! "This is the worst day of my life!" Sigh. I suggest a simple and relaxing game of Candy Land. They show up to the game table with their best of poker faces and they are not going to let anyone or anything steal away their chance at sweet victory. Accusations of cheating and board-manipulation fly, all the while the toddler simply moves his piece from one spot to the next which is simply just too much to take for the real players. The game is over and nobody is ever playing again. My mi

I Can Only Change ME

I CAN ONLY CHANGE ME Welcome my friend! I have taken some time-off (well, a lot of time off) but the break - and long awaited return - is over! And I figured there was no better way to jump back in to this than to re-state what the whole purpose of this blog is. (Are blogs on the out now? Do I need a .com address to be 'legit?' Well, whatever, this is where I'm startin'!) The crazy part is, over the years, this ONE key concept - I CAN ONLY CHANGE ME - is what I keep coming back to and what my ultimate fallback is. I may be a slow learner folks, but I'll probably never get it. Yes - that is not a typo - I probably will  never master this, but I sure can work at it every day! As I say that, I realize I need to offer my kids and my husband way more grace and forgiveness than I do because I am myself am a repeat offender in all things bad and luckily all things good as well. This right here is the foundation to this whole blog: You can't change anyone but your

Have a laugh!

I have a super simple short post to write today.  Now stick with me on this - you'll be confused for a minute... I can totally write this while I look at your cute freckled face. And your giggles make me happy! Are you impressed yet? You need a haircut. And your teeth to be cleaned - don't frowny face me young man! Your freckles will not make up for your nasty dirty teeth! And you have chocolate on your face. Stick your tongue back in your mouth and go wash it off your face! I just typed all that while looking at my son and he read it as I typed. He was of course extremely impressed with my mad skillz, but also got a good laugh out of it. Do you make your kids laugh? Every day? That's actually one of my biggest goals - to make everyone in my family laugh at least once! Not because I'm funny (although - here's to hoping!) but because laughter is good for the soul; on a physiological level - did you know that? When you smile and laugh, it releases the feel-goo