Mamalicious Monday (ADHD)

Heather @ The Gift Closet has a fun Monday meme going all called Mamalicious Monday and I decided to participate.

I've mentioned before (I think) that my 4 year old has ADHD. He has been "active" for as long as I can remember and hasn't been the easiest child to parent, but God choose us to be his parents for a reason and I love him, activity and all. I've been thinking alot lately that we really are blessed that Ayden just has ADHD with so many childhood illnesses out there I actually feel lucky. Just last week I read about a beautiful little girl Cora Paige who passed away after battling cancer and Little "Bug" died just a few weeks before his delivery date from umbilical cord strangulation. Its all so sad and since I too have lost a child before (due to premature birth), I am easily reminded how precious life is and that we must show the ones we love while we have the chance. I am often easily frustrated with Ayden's behavior and have found myself comparing him to other kids his age. Making comparisons to others is my first mistake, because God made each of us different with our own unique strengths and weaknesses.

Ayden will be entering Kindergarten in the Fall and I am soooooooo SCARED for him and honestly for myself. We have spent the past four years trying to find a daycare that could meet his needs (he was asked to leave several because of his behavior) and he is currently doing pretty well in his current daycare. I am SCARED for him to leave the comforts of daycare. I worry that he will be labeled as "slow" because of his ADHD and not given the opportunity to show how smart he is. I know from being a former teacher how the school systems operate and honestly how teachers talk about their students (good and bad). Ayden is "behind"and is not ready for kindergarten academically according to his teachers and my own experience in education, not because he cant learn but because if it doesn't hold his attention he refuses to do the activity. Since we started him on a very low dose of medication (please don't send me lots of comments about how awful we are for using medication) we have seen improvement in his behavior and I am confident that eventually he will be able to control his own emotions and activity levels to go without the meds.

I am praying that God will open the door for the right school for Ayden and close all others that are not a good fit. I pray that God will give us the strength to know how to handle Ayden and discern between ADHD and just bad behavior. I pray for guidance and to meet others who have a child like Ayden so that we can share tips. I pray for his current teachers and future teachers to have patience and compassion and a spirit of grace. I thank God that Ayden has ADHD because it could be so much worse.