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An ADHD Holiday
Helping Your Child Cope By Beth Hering
It might help to share information with relatives prior to the event. Explain that your child's condition sometimes requires extra patience and flexibility. You are attempting to make things run as smoothly as possible for everyone by dealing with the child's limitations. When others realize the situation, they oftentimes are more tolerant (and sometimes are even eager to help).
"My neighbor wanted us to join a group she was leading around town to sing carols," says Frank George of Arlington, Va. "It sounded like fun at first, but then we got to thinking. My son, who has ADD/ODD, will already have been through a full day of school, so going around in the cold, close to his bedtime, seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. We politely declined and told her the reason why. She completely understood. To our surprise, the group made our house the first stop on its journey. My son was thrilled to stand on the porch in his pajamas for a few minutes listening to 'Frosty the Snowman.'"
Start by penciling in the activities that mean the most. Watch for potential problems, such as back-to-back events that require the child to switch gears too fast or ones that cut into bedtime. Lastly, realize your own limitations. A frazzled adult who is exhausted from baking for a cookie swap, writing out Christmas cards and shopping all day is not in the right state of mind to deal with a needy child. By taking some shortcuts (such as having cards imprinted or relying more on gift certificates as presents) and learning to forgo some activities altogether, you can just say "yes" to a joyful season.