The biggest little things.

I’ll tell you about a pet peeve of mine.

It was first something that I read when I was much younger and my brothers were diagnosed as having ADD, one with and one without the H. There is a tendency to identify yourself or your child as being ADD.

I just read it again in a comment on an ADD article. The commenter said, “I am ADD and my son has ADHD.” There is a world of difference in the perception of being ADD versus having ADD.

If I say I am ADD, that seems to leave very little room for anything else. That it is the single most important thing about me and that it defines me as a person. I admit that sometimes it feels that way because it is so pervasive in how it affects our lives. But it doesn’t define us.

If I say I am ADD and I’m a mom, an artist, a writer, a…whatever then I am giving it more power and precedence than it deserves.

Instead, let me say that I am a mom, and artist, a writer and I have ADD.

If I had a different disability such as an injured leg, that’s not the info I would lead with when introducing myself.

I am a limp and an artist and a mom.

Better to say that I am an artist and a mom and I have a limp. Wouldn’t you agree?

These are small things. But these small things are added up over time to become big things. Especially when they are how you are describing your child. Little pitchers have big ears, don’t forget. They are listening and they are taking your cue as to what is the most important property about them in your description of them.

In other news, this is my 300th post. So, my non-follow-through-ADD-parts have so far not won the war against having a blog.

Hurrah!

Now here are some random photos:

 

 

 

 

 

That is my kid and my aunt in the matching bus!