Where do I ever begin to share with you some thoughts regarding our family and ADHD?  Let me start with the fact that while learning more about ADHD, I know that I must have it too.  Man, when you say that I just want to cringe and stick myself in the corner.  Why is that?  I am not sure.  I know that media and society at large tends to want to put people into boxes and if we don't happen to fit into that particular box then there must be a label or problem with why we can't "fit" into what is "normal" for a human being to look, act and feel like. 

For the passed few months I have been memorizing a proclamation about the roles of the family.  Part of it says, "All human beings – male and female – are created in the image of God.  Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny."  We are literally sons and daughters of God.  He loves us and he created us.  He wants us to be happy in this life and to overcome the challenges and obstacles that might come into our lives whether by choices we make or just because of our physical bodies we have been given.  We each truly have a "divine nature and destiny."

So, how can that help me as our family continues to struggle with ADHD?  I know many feel like it really doesn't exist but that it is an excuse to act a certain way, but that just is not true.  We all have struggles just in different aspects of our life whether mental, emotional, physical or spiritual.  It doesn't mean we are less loved by our Father in Heaven.  He sees us as we truly are not as we are now but what we can someday become.

I posted a few year ago about the GAPS diet which we started that summer.  We went through a 30 day detox and to sum it up, it was the hardest thing my family and I ever have done.  The basics of the GAPS detox is meat stock (not just any meat the best you can get, grass-fed, etc) and chicken stock where you boil all day in a pot and make your own stock.  You can eat well boiled broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions and leeks.  You can also have baked squash and boiled meats.  That's about it! About every 3-7 days you add more ingredients like fermented vegetables, etc.  (This isn't an article of the particulars of the GAPS diet.  You can read about it in this great book called Gut and Psychology Syndrome.  I just thought I'd share a few thoughts of our own journey.)

Here is what I learned.  My children went through a major detox.  The first few days of detox they were very tired and sluggish.  I began to worry a bit but the doctor said this was normal.  That only last a few days.  What did last for most of the entire month was none stop cooking and cleaning in the kitchen really.  Jars and pots everywhere.  Any vegetables we had to buy needed to be as clean and organic like either your own garden or a local farmer hence the trip to the Farmer's Market that I spoke about earlier.

I learned that my family can do hard things.  I learned how to cook with all kinds of vegetables and pretty much any meat cooked with any vegetable almost always tasted great.  I learned that no matter how hungry one of my children got, he still refused to eat some of the vegetables.  I remember one day when he finally ate after weeks of tears and refusal.  During that meal, I was the one crying when he did finally ate the vegetables that he previous refused to eat. 

In a nut shell, it was not easy at all, but I learned so much about the human body and what a family is capable of accomplishing when all have the same goal.  (I have to insert a side story to that statement.  One day when going to my pantry, I found that someone had gotten into my food storage of dehydrated apple slices.  They didn't use a can opener but one of those can openers that has a triangle point.  He put a few holes on one side and slipped his fingers inside to get some food just like a mouse!) 

Let's fast forward to today, 2016.  We are not on the GAPS diet any more.  I have taken many of the things I learned and still use in our daily cooking and I had to come up with something that would work for our family and our bodies.  One of the downsides to the GAPS diet is that it is very expensive to eat healthy.  That just sounds sad that to eat healthy it will be very expensive, but it is true.  We even moved further away from the city to a cheaper house so that we could use the extra money saved from our living costs to cover the food cost.  We were willing to help our son do all we could to help him "heal" naturally from ADHD.  Boy, have I learned a lot since than.

I don't feel he needs to heal from ADHD.  (not sure if that is totally possible or desired)  I believe that I have ADHD, but understood and channeled correctly has been such a blessing in my life and to those around me.  I think if we can come to understand the struggles we all face, put our trust in God, seek answers to those problems with faith, we can unlock the key to success for ourselves and our family. 

There is so much more that I would like to share that just will not make it in today's post, but it hopefully will be written soon like other physical conditions such as sleep apnea, etc that we have slowly uncovered over the last few years. 

In closing, I wanted to share with you something I read online that I feel helps me to see the bigger picture.  The title is called 12 ADHD Truths that baffle the rest of the world. It is a great reminder about what people who have ADHD are thinking and perhaps it might give you insight into being more compassionate and understanding with yourself and your children. It said,

"ADHD is the source of creative vision, bravery, and passion. Those free-floating ideas that spring forth from unknown places in our minds can result in incredible creativity. Imagination is the birthplace of symphonies, masterpieces, and revolutionary inventions. When managed properly… ADHD can propel terrific change in our world.