Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Legos & iTunes

A Lego Space Shuttle, Legend the Beanie Baby Dragon, the “Age of Empires” computer game, an Orca whale stuffed animal, a Ferrari sports car model, an Abercrombie and Fitch camisole, iTunes songs, the Twilight DVD, an iPod, J. Crew corduroy slacks, and ribbon-tied, shortbread cookies from The Cakery bakery in downtown Burlingame, California. What do all these things have in common? Hint: This is not a holiday shopping list, as you may have guessed. All the items on this list were rewards either for my son Blake or my daughter Madison, as they were growing up. That’s right, rewards that acknowledged and celebrated their many efforts and accomplishments at home, in school, with relatives and friends, in community service, in extracurricular activities, and in sports, These were acknowledgements for doing something good -- big or small -- for something of which they were proud, at all the different stages of their childhood and teenage years.

In 5th grade, Madison completed her Harry Potter book report and created a mobile using a wizard hat as a centerpiece from which handcrafted figures from the Sorcerer’s Stone dangled. She wrote about the plot, theme and characters on construction paper squares that also dangled from the hat. She was creative and thoughtful. As a reward, I told her we would go and pick out another Beanie Baby for her collection that included iguanas, antelopes, bears, dogs and dinosaurs. Yet another colorful furry creature that would perch above her bed.

Blake practiced each day for a half hour on the piano learning one of Clementi’s Sonatinas leading up to the winter piano recital at the church. It was a complex and technically difficult piece to learn, requiring much patience. In addition, he had to wear a navy blazer and grey wool slacks to the recital and he had to take a bow in front of the audience. Our family celebrated later by going to the Cheese Cake Factory for dinner and I got him the computer game “Empire Earth” that he always wanted.

To tell you the truth, it doesn’t matter what the particular reward is. It does matter greatly that you decide to give it to your child and that the reward is something they love and want. It says simply: “I love you and I am proud of you. What you do is important to me” – all powerful words for a child with ADHD.

What are some of the other things that I rewarded? Blake organized his closet, sat politely through a long dinner party with relatives, finished the research and writing for his 8th grade English Share Project. We picked out a red model Ferrari that joined his silver Lamborghini and blue Porsche on his bookshelf.

In 9th grade, Madison organized a group of girls to help with community service work for our local greyhound rescue group. We did gift-wrapping with the greyhounds at Borders Book Store where we brought a group of former racing greyhounds into the bookstore, as part of an adoption event during the holiday season. The girls gift-wrapped books as the members of the rescue group talked to Border’s customers about greyhounds as pets and the urgent need for adoption. All tips and donations went to the rescue group, and I had Madison pick out “The Notebook” DVD she always wanted.

We all need rewards, recognition for our accomplishments, but I notice that children with ADHD need this symbolic recognition more frequently. They need something to strive for. Something to keep them going when it is hard to focus for hours on that biology or chemistry homework, studying for the SAT exam, doing the water polo drills and laps, or preparing for a part-time job interview.

Other people may chide me and say, the accomplishment itself is enough of a reward. But I politely disagree. True, an accomplishment stands on its own merit, but it seems as if our adult lives are all about results and returns on investments. What if our children’s results are not so stellar? What if your child tried really hard to do something and met with modest success – didn’t do well on a test, didn’t get selected as a starter for the team? As parents, can we take this one time in their lives and recognize their effort? Think of what that says to your child. It says I know how hard it was for you to do that, and I reward your effort – regardless of the results. That acknowledgement is crucial. Besides, there is plenty of time in the years ahead for the world to exert its influence.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Best,
Nadine

P.S. Blake still wants those shortbread cookies even though he is in college.

Read more about ADHD on the CHADD website www.chadd.org and learn more about a young person’s experience growing up with ADHD on Blake’s website www.youngwithadhd.com

8 comments:

  1. Good one on Creative Parenting - it helps a lot!

    We clearly share similar parenting experiences and views.
    I've been reading one that I'm hooked on - http://todayscliche.com/.
    I have a feeling you'd get a lot out of it.

    Incredible job on your blog; keep it up.

    Thanks,
    peter

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  2. I am so thankful to have found this blog. We are raising our 10 year old granddaughter who has just been diagnosed with AD/HD and separation anxiety disorder, and also was diagnosed six years ago with mild intellectual disability. She has not been easy to raise, but we take it as it comes the best we can. I hope to learn from those of you who have been there and maybe get more guidance so we can cope a little better. I've read that children with AD/HD excel in one area or another and I hope to find hers so we can focus on it. I will be following this blog closely! Thanks to everyone for being out there and willing to share their stories.

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  3. I too have found this blog to be extremely helpful and inspirational. Can't begin to thank you enough.

    Happy Holidays to all.
    Tammie

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  4. I agree with your comments about the need for rewards. We've found that small rewards given several times a day, coupled with larger rewards, really make a huge difference. Many parents criticize this by saying we are rewarding the child for something he should already do. But I so disagree. The rewards change behavior in a fundamental way and ultimately the need for a reward over a specific thing diminishes and goes away.

    We also have been rewarding my off-the-scale creative son by publishing his creative output. We just put 2 videos and one audio recording on the yondrr you tube channel. If you want to encourage your ADD/ADHD kids, show them what Alexander did at www.youtube.com/yondrr. We also are publishing his book (written and illustrated by Alexander). it has been a huge boost to his self esteem and it fuels the creativity, which is a virtuous circle.

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  5. Thank you for this poignant and compassionate post, Nadine.

    Gina

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  6. Hi,
    Just found this blog through the CHADD sight. Is it still active? Seems that the latest post was over three months ago?
    Thanks,
    Nikki

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  7. Thank you so much for your comments! I really appreciate them, especially since we are all trying to find our way as we deal with ADHD....

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  8. Love this blog and have it listed on my blog site. I searched the web for "mom support" and when I couldn't find it (at first) started my own blog, thinking other moms must feel alone as did I. Then, I found Blake's story and ordered his book. It should be here tomorrow. It's listed as a recommended book on my blog. Now I'm putting 2 & 2 together - fascinating to now read Blake's mom's words. Touching. Thank you. Charlotte charlottesadhdweb.blogspot.com

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