I believe in ADHD meds

I've been reading two different books lately about parenting children with ADHD, and the authors have dramatically different ideas about a lot of things. One of them is trying to convince us that ADHD is a gift, and we shouldn't mask the symptoms. I'm getting a few good things from that book, but that is not one of them. I'm sure there are positive things that can come from the extra energy and enthusiasm of ADHD. But I think for the most part those will come with age and maturity. This book claims that ADHD meds only make life easier for parents & teachers by masking the symptoms of ADHD. For one thing, why is that made to sound like such a bad thing? The parenting & teaching that the child receives will then be far superior, because the parents & teachers aren't totally stressed out. Now that I think of it, I'm pretty frustrated with that book. I think I'll stop reading it and just keep reading the other one (which has a much more medication-friendly attitude).

The reason this is on my mind is that David's class is having a Valentine party today. The older grades have half days all week, so the kindergarteners only have a half week (because half days would be ridiculous when class is already only 2.5 hours). I didn't get David's class list until yesterday, so we had only 1 day to do the Valentines. Last night we started a little before 9:00. Katy was asleep, Ryan had recently had lights out, and the house was quiet. He worked for about half an hour before I finally sent him to bed. In 30 minutes (or so) he got 8 Valentines done. He frequently got distracted mid-word. I was CONSTANTLY having to remind him to stay on task. Like, nagging him to write every individual letter! It was hugely frustrating!

This morning we got home from aerobics a little before 11:00. They're supposed to get to play on the Wii at 11, but David needed to finish his Valentines first. So Ryan was playing on the Wii & Katy was climbing around us while he was doing it - a much more distracting environment. He did need to be reminded to stop watching the Wii game a few times, but not too many. And he finished the second eight in 15 minutes! Seriously, HALF the time! Not only was he faster, his handwriting was far neater. And I had to leave him a couple times to attend to something else, and he kept working without me! It was like a different child!

Now, some of the difference might be morning instead of night, but I really believe it was mostly the medication. He takes his pill around 8 or 8:30 every morning, and I think it lasts around 12 hours. I can't believe how night and day the difference was in his ability to stay on task. I LOVE his medication! Think about how school would be if he wasn't medicated - a teacher can't be constantly nagging him to finish every word he writes. Being medicated is going to make a HUGE difference in his ability to succed at school! I am definitely a believer.