Great Resource!

I started following ADDitude on facebook a while back after searching for some articles on ADHD. It is an amazing resource and I wanted to share it with my readers. I read most of their articles because I have ADHD and my son has also been diagnosed with ADHD. Of course, I had ADHD all along growing up and it was never diagnosed. I struggled. A lot. I don't want my son to have to go through all of that, at least not getting the help that he needs. My husband and I can ultimately decide the steps to help him and his treatment process. This magazine helps.

CLICK HERE to view their awesome website. The have a print magazine, web magazine, webinars, ebooks, etc. Big, helpful resource. I love it. I subscribe to their emails also. If you or a loved one in your life suffers from ADHD, whether inattentive, hyperactive or combined, you will love the information shared on this site!

Pass it on!

You're welcome.

Have a great Tuesday!!!!!!!!!!!

A Day In The Life...

I have officially lost it! Today I was headed out to run errands and could not find my keys anywhere. At one point, I had taken them out of the purse and gathered everything up and headed out the door, only to come back in to look at some coupons....well, then my ADHD kicked in (I like to call it multi-tasking). Not only was I looking through the coupon drawer, I also remembered that our vacuum needed a new filter. So I went to the drawer where we keep all our instruction booklets. I decided to take a picture of the vacuum instructions so that I would know exactly what filter to buy. Then I started thinking about where I could go to get the filter. Need filter - Go to Target - While at Target - get Starbucks. Mmmm...coffee. Ok, back to reality. While dreaming of the Starbucks drink I would get at Target I kept looking through the coupon drawer. Then I started going through all the expired coupons. Then I threw them away and I decided I could go. Except by then, I could not locate my keys. Why was I even going out? Oh yeah, coffee. ooh...but I also had to go to Kroger, even though I had just been there yesterday, because I always seem to forget at least one thing (imagine that). Man, it seems like I go to Kroger every day. ooh...and I also wanted to go to the Hendersonville Produce Market.

But I couldn't go anywhere until I found my keys...so for the next 15-20 minutes I look for my keys, everywhere. Twice. I did find the coupon I was looking for (it was on the kitchen table) but I was completely frustrated because my keys had disappeared. Finally, I get my husband's key and leave.

While I was running my errands, including Kroger, I tried to backtrack in my mind exactly where the last time I saw my keys. Then I remembered that before I left I was looking for a coupon. That's where my keys were, in the drawer where the coupons were. I got really excited. So I came in and went to the drawer and looked for my keys. No keys. Now I was faced with pulling the trash out and going through it to make sure I didn't throw them out there accidentally. Eww.

Must keep thinking.

Then, my one last and only hope, I decided to look in the drawer where the instruction booklets are kept...you remember, the vacuum filter, right?

Aaaand....there they were. Yep. The search was over.

I told Greg that I found my keys and where I had found them. I also told him that I was losing it.

Then I remembered that I had forgotten, once again, to pick up a certain item while at Kroger.

I rhetorically asked Greg why I keep forgetting to buy at least one from Kroger every time that I went.

He lovingly replied, "Because you're losing it?"

Yes. Yes, I am.

Oh, and I never made it to Target. I honestly never even gave it another thought once I left the house.
And that's my day...how was yours???

Four Ways To Survive Vacation With Kids

What is one of the most exhausting, exasperating and stressful thing I have done in this motherhood journey? You think I'm going to say childbirth, right? No, what I'm talking about is taking those beloved children on vacation.

Below are a few things I've learned about surviving vacation with small kids while creating memories and building traditions.

1) Keep it familiar. The past two years we have gone to the same city for a beach trip. This is great because the kids always know what they are going to do and what they want to do. It's familiar, and as long as the kids keep thinking it's fun, it can be a win-win.Hearing my son talk about where we were going to get ice cream, and the first restaurant he wanted to eat at made me smile  for probably an hour down the road.

2) Bring reinforcements.  Most of time this means grandparents tagging along and it usually works out great. Parents get a night out (or two, if you are lucky) and we don't get sick of each other by the third day.

3) Remember to be flexible. I know this is a given. We know it, but after 10 hours in a car watching Wreck It Ralph over and over along with eating crap food (there really is no other appropriate word for the stuff we eat on the road) my patience is shot. If everyone is in a bad mood, all the kids are going to remember was how crabby mom was, not how great fishing on the boardwalk was. Word.

4) Remember your favorite. One of the things we have started doing with our kids is asking them on the last night of vacation what each of their favorite part was. It actually makes all the hard work, organization and exhaustion worth it to hear your kids talking about what they loved about vacation.