"In this excerpt, Dad and I look at a photo of The Betty L, a construction derrick barge he salvaged from San Francisco’s Ocean Beach in 1983. He tries to teach me to think like a salvage engineer, to understand the importance of making quick assessments and taking preventative action to mitigate worsening circumstances. He’s talking about ship salvage, but it feels to me like he’s talking about my parenting. Dad anchored the Betty L to keep her in place, to prevent a grounding. I am deeply concerned with understanding how I might do something similar for Owen, to help him anchor himself, and prevent him from drifting or crashing into the metaphorical rocks of teenage life." #adhd #ADHDParenting #Adhdmom #neurodivergent #neurodiversity https://www.elizabethrynecki.com/chapter-9-the-betty-l/

When my son was first diagnosed at 10 with #ADHD, I questioned the diagnosis because I knew he could spend HOURS reading, playing with certain block building toys, and playing video games. What I thought I knew about ADHD was that it was all about an inability to focus. How could my kid who had intense interests that he spent hours doing have something that was exactly the opposite of fidgeting, distractedness, and inability to settle down and do a task? But hyperfocus IS part of ADHD. According to ADDitude magazine, "Hyperfocus is thought to result from abnormally low levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is particularly active in the brain’s frontal lobes. This dopamine deficiency makes it hard to “shift gears” to take up boring-but-necessary tasks." #ADHDParenting #Neurodiversity #ADHDMom https://www.additudemag.com/understanding-adhd-hyperfocus/?fbclid=IwAR34CqLCjuWJojVol8RUqQZKTLyrYtEPaGGdQANBsmyAQL5kNfpuK4_Xpyo

It's said that people who are neurotypical have a strong sense of time, and that people with ADHD struggle with it. Time for ADHDers tends to slip away more easily. So, for example, if I ask my son to do the dishes in the next half hour, he might agree, but then totally forget. If I want to make sure he starts the dishes in that time period, I need to have him set an egg timer or an alarm on his phone. But his biggest struggle with time has to do with what ADHDers call: Waiting Mode. As in, he wakes up at, say 10am, and knows he has a dentist appointment at 3pm, and this then distracts him from being able to do anything productive in the next 5 hours. In part this is because of the anxiety of going to the dentist, but in part because he has this sense that if he doesn't keep the dentist appointment at the front of his mind, he will forget he has to go to it (even though he knows I'll remind him and will take him). #ADHDParenting #ADHDMom #neurodivergent

ADHD and Depression. We have experienced days with my son where he could not get out of bed, begged us to not make him go to school and expressed suicidal thoughts. This "stuff" is TERRIFYING for parents. I am not licensed to dealing with depression, but I will tell you this.... It can feel overwhelming to know where to begin. This article offers some useful insights: https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-and-depression-symptoms-treatment/
#ADHDParenting #ADHDMom #ADHD #NeurodivergentParenting

If you are a parent struggling to understand your kid’s ADHD (or your own!), it can be incredibly overwhelming to figure it all out on your own. I've built a page on my website that shares a few resources I’ve found particularly helpful: https://www.elizabethrynecki.com/books/salvaged-a-memoir-of-parenting-shipwrecks-and-adhd/ #adhdparenting #adhdmom #adhdsupport #adhdawareness #adhdbrain

I’m making a commitment to posting original ADHD Parenting content. I’ve reposted a lot of items to my stories, but want to be more intentional about sharing my experiences, insights, and maybe helpful (I hope!) resources. So I’m starting with this… there so much more to ADHD than the stereotypical notion of a young boy fidgeting and daydreaming in class. #ADHDParenting #neurodivergent #neurodiversity #adhdmom #adhdparents #adhdsupport #adhdawareness #adhdbrain

Playing with lovevery blocks to set up my kid's invitation to play tomorrow is low key healing for my inner child that never wanted to make mistakes and felt that blocks were too ambiguous. 10/10 recommend. #adhdmom #lovevery #toddlermom

Reward for showering: Starbucks and a trip to the dollar store for toddler art supplies! #adhdmom

There is no sweeter feeling than the feeling of dropping off your kids at school. No matter what else happens today, this is the highlight. #MyKidsSuckSometimes #LoveThemLikeMyOwnBecauseTheyAre #ADHDMom #WillIReallyMissThis #WouldNotHaveItAnyOtherWay #LoveMyKids