“One thing I had learned from watching chimpanzees with their infants is that having a child should be fun.” –Jane Goodall
Good Morning!
“…having a child should be fun.” I was so excited when I found this quote. I sure wish I had seen this quote when I was in my “witch on a broomstick” phase. I would like to think that I might have paused for a moment and realized that I was missing something.
Because when you really look at it, fun was what missing in my parenting at that time. I looked at parenting as being a “chore”. Something that I had to do, something that was my “duty” as a mother. Something that was confusing and difficult and exhausting and definitely not fun.
Thank goodness I found someone to help me see the “fun” part of parenting. There were still times raising my three daughters with ADHD that were confusing and difficult and exhausting but when I added in the fun it made those times so much easier to deal with.
When I let go of what I thought should be the right way to parent I was finally able to see what fun parenting could be. When I realized that my children were never going to change, that they would always have ADHD and therefore would always be a challenge, the fun could begin. When I started to reframe some of those negative ADHD traits and see my children as being eager, energized, spontaneous, out of the box thinkers who had moments of brilliance, I could let go of the way they should be and let them take me on a journey that at times was definitely very fun.
So…Yes, parenting is hard and parenting children with ADHD can be even be harder. But don’ t concentrate so much on the difficulties and lose out on the fun! When life get tough, think of Jane Goodall and her chimpanzees having fun, (which should at least bring a smile to you your face) – then go out and have some fun yourself.
Have some fun today!
peggy
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