SHORTAGE OF ADHD MEDICATION

As more and more children are diagnosed with ADHD we have to ask why.  Are there more children with this illness due to  increasing population and better diagnostics or is it being over diagnosed?

Having a child with ADHD is a burden on any family and many parents are worried about  medications such as Adderoll  being given to their children. I found a recent article in Reuters about ADHD and the shortage of Adderoll written on January 1st that I wanted to share with  those of you who struggle every day with a child with ADHD.

So many people make judgements about a child not ever realising the difficulties faced by the parents and perhaps those people could gain a little more insight by reading this Reuters article. 

TEENAGE TROUBLES

Sometimes our teenagers drive us crazy and to the brink of despair but how does it feel for them? Their hormones are driving them crazy, their skin is rebelling against them, everyone is telling them what to do and they are growing up. No wonder teens get irritable, resentful, downright surly and difficult to get along with.

It is during these teenage years that your child can make a mistake that will affect the rest of their life. The fifteen year old girl who becomes pregnant, the sixteen year old boy who gets in the wrong car or binge drinks and ends up in hospital with alcohol poisoning or worse. So how do you help your child avoid the pitfalls of the often dangerous peer pressure of the teenage years?

I had no idea how to answer that question, having muddled through my children's teenage years and being lucky enough that we all survived without too many scars, so I went in search of answers to the ageless problem of dealing with teens.

I found that there were dozens of sites on the internet giving advice on managing difficult teens and one that I found was an article by Bob Blyth who is a Professional Mediator. It is called Parent - Teen Conflict, Managing it Constructively. I thought this article was excellent and I wish I had read it when my children were teens.

Another site that I thought was helpful was 5 Secrets for Handling Difficult Teen Parenting Situation

Of course there are many more sites that will give you advice you may or may not find helpful. I simply Google Dealing with difficult teens and found hundreds. Of course some of these sites are there to sell you something but the two above I thought had merit and even though the second site had books for sale it was not a pressure sell.

I'm quite sure that new parents have no idea what the childs teenage years have in store for them because if they did they probably would have decided not to have children, but, honestly, no matter how terrible these young people behave we do all love our kids and do the best we can for them. All I can say is good luck.

HAVE YOUR CHILDREN MOVED OUT

Our offspring seem to be clinging to the family home for much longer these days and even when they do move out they are never really gone.  You find little bits of them all over the house.There is that smelly old pair of sneakers in the laundry or a sock under the bed and what about all those school projects, scrap books, clothes and nick nacks they just haven't got the room for but couldn't possibly throw away?

Of course they are always popping in for a meal, often with a friend, dropping off some washing or mending  because "I just don't have the time mum and I know you love doing it".

But do you love doing it?  Or do you wish they would get themselves organised like you had to when they were growing up.  Well that is how I felt and this is how I solved the problem.  I moved.  Yes, drastic I know but I was on my own and I wanted to downsize so I moved into a small townhouse.

Suddenly I didn't have the room for their stuff so it was a case of take it or throw it away.  It was then up to them to decide just how important these things were to them and surprise surprise.......most of it wasn't important at all. Most of what they left behind was thrown in the bin and only a few things were taken with them.

I guess the thing I learned from this was that sometimes you have to give your children a little push to make them realise they are on their own now and your world does not revolve around them.  You love them but now it is your time to relax, spend some time with your friends and just enjoy your freedom.

IS YOUR CHILD SELF HARMING?

As parents we are often bombarded with so much information on the best way to raise our children that we simply want to throw our arms in the air and scream.  We've seen them all "Toddler Tamer", "Raising Boys", "Raising Girls" etc etc.  All these books have merit of course and play a part in equiping us for this difficult job of raising our children to become happy well adjusted adults.

Unfortunatly, sometimes even our best efforts fail and our child becomes withdrawn and depressed to the point of self harming.

I did not realise until recently how many teens have such low self esteem and  who seem to  loathe themselves so much that they are cutting themselves or harming themselves in other ways.

My youngest grandson, who was about ten at the time, came to visit me and brought along one of his friends.  The friend showed me a deep gouge on his leg and when I asked him what had happened he told me he had scratched it and made it that deep.  When I asked him why he just shrugged.

This is happening far too much and if you are the parent of a child who keeps turning up with what could be self inflicted injuries then you need to seek help immediately.

There are a number of sites on the internet about this behaviour and they give advice on what you can do as a parent.  Because it is becoming so prevalent I believe all parents need to arm themselves with the facts of what to look for and what they can do to help their child.  For that reason I looked up some sites that all parents may find helpful.
About.com has an article and also fact sheets for parents of troubled teens.  Another  good resource is at   Reach Out.com  Of course once you even suspect your child is self harming  you should talk about it with your doctor.
The children of today are the future of our world so lets take good care of them so the can grow up healthy happy and well adjusted.

More links on Self Harming:
Teen Health
YSPP
Suicide Stress and Bullying Trauma

BABIES DO CRY.

When you bring your new baby home you want everything to be perfect but then the little darling starts crying all night and nothing you do seems to work.  This is when panic sets in.  You tell yourself your a bad mother and the baby is crying because it is all your fault.  Self doubt and fear take over.

When my babies were born I was told crying was good exercise.  I'm still not sure if that is true, but what I do know is that crying is the only way a baby has to communicate that they are uncomfortable, hungry, thirsty, hot or cold or have colic.  Whatever the cause of the crying it is not your fault.

Every parent has gone through this and has managed to survive, so don't panic.

Netdoctor is a great site (one of many) that tells you all about why babies  cry.  I am sure you will find it very reassuring when things aren't quite going to plan with your new baby.

Another site that you may find helpful is Babiesonline.

None of this may stop your baby crying but usually understaning a problem better makes it much easier to cope with.  If you Google why do babies cry you will find there are many other sites that can give you advice and explanations but I haven't found one yet that tells me where the off switch is so I guess the bottom line is........BABIES DO CRY.

CHILD PROOF YOU HOME

We all understand that children should always be supervised when they are near water but still children drown in back yard swimming pools.  The fact is children die or are injured in home accidents that in most cases could have been prevented.  These are not the children of uncaring non-vigilent parents, these are the children of loving parents who do all they can to protect their precious child.

I don't think anyone can think of everything they need to do to protect their child from harm but and excellent site that lists potential hazards and how to prevent injuries to your child is at  Kids Spot.  If you are a new mum looking for ways to keep your child safe then this is a great place to start looking for answers.

Of course many of the risks and how to avoid them is just common sense but there are some risk that you may never think of and Kids Spot may help you with these things.  One of the things that some parents would not think of is the danger of a child drowning in a nappy bucket or even the toilet.

I am sure you will find other interesting and informative article on Kids Spot  such as food safety, toy safety  and much more.  Don't take chances with your precious childs life get all the information you can to keep him or her safe.

Social Skills For ASD Children

When my grandchild was diagnosed with ASD there were very few services available to his parents. Helping him was an uphill battle and also a very expensive one. The Australian Government does very little to support the parents or assist the child and parents find themselves paying for everything they need to help their child reach his/her full potential. Children with Aspergers Syndrome who are not intelectually impaired are pushed into a Special Ed Unit at school along with children with ADHD and other children with severe behavioural probelms. There is no chance of these high functioning children learning appropriate social skills in this kind of environment. Recently I discovered a site that sells videos to teach children social skills. Too late for my grandchild who is now an adult but if you have a child with ASD then I hope these videos might be of some help to you. I found them at http://www.teach2talk.com/teach2talk-all-products.html and I really hope they will help your child learn the social skill they need without the huge price tag most services have. After seeing the stress my family suffered due to the difficult and expensive task of getting help I feel for anyone in the same position. If you have any suggestions or tips to help the parent of an ASD child then please leave a message here to pass it on.

Monkey See Monkey Do

Are you concerned about global warming and the life your children may be facing in the future?  Many people are, and even thought they do what they can to protect the environment are they making enough of an effort to teach their children what they can do to help ensure their own future.
All too often I see parents smoking while driving the car and then throwing their cigarette butt out the window of the car.  Apart from the health risks they are imposing on the children forced to ride in the car with them they are setting a very poor example for those children.
Throwing cigarette butts out  the car window is littering.  It is also a very dangerous practice when the grass along the side of the road is tinder dry.  Is this the kind of example we should be setting for our children?
Our children are our future and if we don't teach them well then we have no future.  The old parenting style that said "Don't do as I do, do as I tell you" will not work with our modern children.  Today's parent must live the way they want their children to live; they must set the right example.
All children copy what they see mum and dad do so it is the responsibillity of the parents to set the very best example for them to follow.

Family Fun With Bingo

When I was growing up our local Ambulance ran Bingo games to raise money for the ambulance service. My mother and I would go to bingo every time it was on. We did not win money back then, we won prizes and what wonderful prizes they were. I remember the night we won a stuffed monkey. For me if was the best prize on the table that night and I was so excited when we won it I hugged for the rest of the night. That monkey was my most prized possession and I loved it, even though it did have a strange smell and was like cuddling a piece of wood. Even now, with my children grown up with children of their own, I can still recall the times when I needed only one more number to win. My heart would pound and I could barely breath as my excitement almost overwhelmed me. Of course when someone else got the prize my disapointment was huge but it did teach me some valuable lesson in life: you can't always win and you never give up trying. When I discovered Disney Bingo I was delighted. Now I could share the excitement I had experienced playing bingo as a child with my family, especially my grandchildren. If you want to enjoy bingo again with your children or grandchildren then check it out at Amazon.com Drugstore.com

Teach Your Children Tolerance

One of the things that all people with disabilities face is intolerance. This is especially true for children with disabilities and it is something that we should all address by teaching our children tolerance and acceptance. When any child goes to school they are open to teasing and bullying and children have an eye for anything that may be slightly different. Children with disabilities who are able to go to main stream schools are particularly at risk of teasing and bullying. As adults we need to stamp out this kind of behaviour and the only way to do this is with education. Some children have disabilities that are not apparent to the casual observer. Children with Asperger's Syndrome are often subjected to more than their fair share of schoolyard teasing and bullying, increasing their confusion about the world around them. Where I live teachers are limited in what they can do due to confidentiality laws so it is up to parents to teach their children about different disabilities and how those disabilities affect a person's behaviours. We all need to do everything we can to protect our most vulnerable children and the first step needs to be greater community awareness of the problems. With education and understanding we may eventually create a much kinder world for all our children.