Today marks the beginning of ADHD Awareness Month!
I couldn’t think of a better way to kick it off than sharing a poem written by one of our own ADHD mamas, Andrea DeBaggis.
So much of our success in raising kids with ADHD depends upon our willingness to look at our children and their behaviors in a different light. Andrea’s poem does an amazing job helping us to do just that.
Think About It:
How can you reframe some of your own child’s frustrating behaviors? How does this help you shift your responses?
The Octopus
his eyes wander skyward
a toy always in his little hand
he fidgets and fiddles
and hums
through my voice
Honey, did you hear what I said?
Mom, did you know that an octopus has three hearts?
images and thoughts wash over his brain
like a rogue wave
sometimes they are slow, steady
barely cresting
other times they pound his shores like a hurricane
throwing life around him
off balance
churning and tossing the moments
like lost ships at sea
Mom, that’s why they are so gentle.
Your shoes honey. You need your shoes.
Yes Mom I heard you.
he hums
and looks away
past me and past this time and space
his thoughts are not on shoes
they are deep in the blue of the ocean
with a beautiful gentle floating
eight-armed creature
he has left my kitchen for another world
a beautiful place where he needs to be
for a moment
and I am worried about shoes
sometimes I want to ride the waves
wander
and think about the octopus
with him at my side
my guide
my beautiful boy
he journeys far and wide
and often
and I am always calling him back
but
he’s not ready to return
for shoes
or chores
or math
or dinner
Mom, also, an octopus can fall in love.
so I lean down with creaking knees and all the love I have
ease his foot into my hand
and put on his shoes
because
he is not done watching the octopus
—-Andrea DeBaggis
Thank you Andrea, for your beautiful words.
XoXo,
Erin
