Flighty Mighty was born from years of doctor and therapy visits, combined with endless internet searching, social media group scouring, and You Tube video watching.
From the time Player 1 (our firstborn) was one year old, I swore she was ADHD. From the time she was born, she never quit moving. At the same time, she wasn’t comfortable unless she was being held or was tightly swaddled. It was quite the conundrum. I was deep into ADHD and other neuropsych research from the time she was a baby.
Doctors agreed with our assumption, but she wasn’t formally diagnosed with ADHD (and some other neurodiversities) until she underwent a whole neuropsych evaluation when she was 7. She was a gifted, brilliant, extroverted, joyous, nonstop, wiggling jiggling escape artist who needed constant monitoring. And so I was introduced to the term 2E, or twice exceptional, and the amazingly un-fun process of navigating IEPs, 504s, and school accommodations.
By then, Player 2 had come along and was into toddlerhood. He was her complete opposite - he didn’t really like to be held for an extended period of time, he actually SLEPT at night (I had no idea how easy that part could be!), and he was in general pretty laid back and cooperative. As he moved to school, it was surfaced that he’s also a gifted, brilliant, hilarious, witty kiddo, and teachers started mentioning his inability to pay attention and finish his work. As early as kindergarten he verbalized to me that he was frustrated in school because he would always “daydream” and miss what was going on, and then not have enough time to get his work done. He was also formally diagnosed with ADHD and other neurodiversities when he was 7.
Shortly after, a conversation with my daughter’s psych made me realize that I’ve likely been battling ADHD my whole life, though mine presents a lot differently than either of theirs. I didn’t realize that many of the things I do on the daily are actually workarounds and coping mechanisms I created to manage my life. We’ve come up with dozens of techniques, products, methods, and routines to help our crazy, fun household manage the flightiness, disorganization, working memory issues, and impulsiveness that seems to sometime rule the roost.
Husband is still standing with no ADHD diagnosis, but some days I wonder…
I pulled this site together as a resource for other ADHDers (or parents of ADHDers) with the intent of offering shortcuts, and hoping I can help other parents can find resources and with less stress and struggle than me.