Here I am writing my second blog since October, so much for blogging every month! I can hardly believe it is coming up on the end of January and I’m booking calendar items for the kids through July, craziness! I’m really in need of some me time!
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been feeling a little desire to be underground of late. Seems like with the holidays and the weather I begin to feel like so many others I know, SAD with seasonal effective disorder or January blues as I call them. What I’ve learned is that it’s very temporary and all I need to do is increase my exposure to bright lights and raise my serotonin levels. Check out this article for some food and supplement ideas to help with your January blues.
I think another reason why I’ve been feeling a need to withdraw a bit is a little mom burn out. As is typical towards the end of any quarter, it’s a time of stress for my son; as he, like many with ADD, is a chronic procrastinator and struggles to stay organized. Poor grades and begging and groveling for extra credit becomes his norm as he jumps into crisis mode to save the quarter. I’m betting that many of you go through this same thing no matter what grade your child is in. My desire to help him along with the realization that we are HERE once again, puts me into a tail spin as I question myself as to why I didn’t help him stay a little more on task or nag him more. Then, the light goes off in my head, I give myself some grace and realize I am doing the best that I can and I remember that this is his journey not mine.
The panic I have been experiencing over the last 10 or so – years flash by and I remember that this too shall pass and all will be … ok. Just remember, don’t beat yourself up as a parent and remember that the world will not end over a few poor grades. This amazing son of mine, after years on this roller coaster ride, is going to be a rock star in whatever he decides to do and it is his journey to live and learn from.
He is creative, thinks outside of the box, and challenges me to look at life differently daily. If I could do it all over again, I would certainly not have spent time sweating the small stuff and focusing on what wasn’t working. Once I changed my focus on his strengths, he became empowered and began to love and accept himself as is and is becoming an amazingly confident young man again.
All we have to do as parents is to love them, believe in them, nurture them and support them and they will flourish in their own way. Life success will always prevail over school success any day!