A meltdown a day keeps sleep away
Part of what makes life as ADHDad so obnoxious is that there really is no universal truth when it comes to dealing with your child and the condition. It seems virtually all aspects and exhibiting symptoms of the disorder are all on their own sliding scale with no number necessarily connecting to the other.
From what I’ve found so far, it’s partially due to the nature of the condition but it can also be impacted heavily by any medication the child is taking to deal with everything. Thus begins the teeter totter back and forth process where you balance their social performance with behavior ATC (After the Crash, aka after it wears off).
Right now the kid is on generic adderall. I’ll be the first to say I had my doubts when he started the meds but in a lot of ways it’s been a blessing. In school he has done tremendously well, much better than he had done last year. I realize there are a lot of variables there but the overall result has trended extremely positive and for that I’m thrilled.
The trouble comes in the evening, after the meds are out of his system. It seems he turns into a mouthy, bossy, obnoxious, electronics addict who doesn’t seem to realize that he is in a lower household rank than his Mother and Father.
The latest battleground has been getting the kid to hit the hay. Every night we seem to be heading through the same cycle. The short version is the kid promises not to flip out, we tell him what time he has to get ready for bed and we give him several warnings through the night that it’s almost bedtime.
Bedtime comes and all hell breaks loose. I’m serious it’s like the end scene of a bad vampire movie when the head vamp gets a face full of sunlight. Only in this case the kid is screaming bloody murder about how it’s “not fair” and basically turning this into a freaking three act play.
We’ve been experimenting on adjusting the process to have it work better. For the past two weeks about all I’ve got left to try are tranquilizer darts or just having the Black Widow come over and say “Hey Big Guy, sun’s getting real low”.
(Geek Note, if you didn’t understand that last line, I apologize)
The nights have typically ended with me carrying him up to his room and him all but swearing vengeance on me while talking smack about how I’m a dumb baby and a horrible Father. Usually within ten minutes of that he is up and about wanting to apologize and ask for a story.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the kid more than anything. Sometimes he drives me crazy though. My thought process is cribbed a bit from Fowl Language (read it, it’s great) “I would never raise a hand to my children, maybe a couple of middle fingers though”.
I can’t be the only person who struggles with getting my ADHD son to sleep at night. At least I hope not, It would really make me question myself as a parent if that were true.
It’s rough but I am up for the challenge. I just wish I could figure out a better plan of attack to get the kid where he needs to be in order to succeed better in getting the sleep he should have.
