ADD/ADHD How Sweet It Is

So as I sit here looking out at the beauty that is my new life, after the sell of our home, I get ancy. To most people this is the most relaxing space on earth but for me its inspiration. If I were a kid in todays times I would be on every “sit still” drug on the market…..because I can’t sit still. I have kids, a husband, four dogs and a partridge in a pear tree. Yet I decided it was a good idea to build my own home (yep, I’m the builder) promise my kids bunnies and a guinea pig, I’m building a 1200 sqft garden, I’ve committed to the school board, my kids are in their respective sports and activities, I cook 3 meals a day, I volunteer for everything etc…. and now I just took on another building project that will begin as soon as we move into our new home.

I sometimes get frustrated that I cannot find peace in stillness like others, but I’m learning how to harness this superpower. I know it seems crazy to hear that someone cannot be still but I assume we as a society have established one “norm” and anything outside of that is deemed “odd”. I’ve managed to change mine from odd to being to being coveted. If you are in the struggle of feeling like you’re empty or you have a little one that seems to struggle with the inability to focus I’ll share with you what has and is currently helping me.

All of the busiest people like the Oprahs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos wake up each morning to a list of to-do’s. They could probably tell you exactly what they have to do hour by hour six months from now. I’ve learned the power of being my own admin with a little help from a bunch of planners with a bunch of lists. No one planner will do! The goal is twice a year I make an in-depth daily calendar. I have my standard things that will happen year round and I have spaces to fill in for those “pop-up” items. This keeps me on task because when my little mind begins to explore, and I catch myself, I can get right back on track versus spending two hours trying to figure out what I was doing and what I was supposed to do. This also works for kids. When (us) kids know there is an end in sight for the unpleasant tasks they (we) tend to knock them out, especially when the task that follows is something they love.

For example a good list in my home looks like

rise and shine
Have breakfast, brush teeth, get dressed
Pack backpack with lunch, snacks and reusable waterbottle
school
after school snack and activity to wind down from a day of sitting
homework and dinner
unpack backpack lunch and snacks, get uniforms out for the next day and pack anything you need for tomorrow
bath, before bed snack, brush teeth, bedtime reading and prayers
8pm sleep

The kids have these check lists hanging. I let them decorate them and this is how they stay on track. I can always ask, did you finish you after school list and its a simple yes or no. This year now that they are 8 and 6 I will add more chores (yayyyy)

Keeping the kids busy keeps them from having that built up energy that we all get from sitting. we are active social animals and when we don’t get the stimuli our bodies and brains need we begin to act in ways we were not meant to. Everyone has different energy levels. My sons after school activity has to be high intensity like riding his bike around the track 20 times whereas my daughter wants to ride around once and then sit on a park bench and color. This being said, I bring my daughters bike and markers to a park that is safe for my son to ride to his hearts content. I can supervise both while sitting taking some forced down time which I typically use to walk one of the 4 pooches we have.

So a sample of my schedule is just as basic with a lot more content

Rise and shine
Have coffee, prep kids lunch, prep breakfast, feed pups, get dressed to the shoes, look at to-dos for the day, get kids up and out
depending on day first stop is for me gym, nail shop, massage, lashes, coffee or breakfast with friend, at 8am nothing is open so it is a good time to take for yourself until the rest of the world opens and you can get going (if you don’t have a traditional clock in career)
9am-noon work work work work work (in my Rihanna voice) for me this is emails, running the city checking on projects, dinner plans, blogging and planning features, budgeting and managing our real estate, managing my garden, setting appointments, managing our household, following up on investments, updating my husbands calendar so he doesn’t miss any of the kids activities, planning, planning, planning, planning, planning did I mention planning? Maybe Rihanna should make a plan plan plan plan plan song lololol
noon LUNCH! I love food and it loves me back because it keeps me going. If I’m having a productive week I may call up a friend and pair my lunch with a nice drink 🙂
after lunch YEP this is a real time of the day, because lunch needs to happen and it is the time of day that makes or breaks you. This is the hour that will set your tone for the afternoon that brings kids and spouses or partners back together with you and if you have not stayed nourished nothing else in your life will flourish (TM) its not really trademarked but I think I should (#idea) see how quickly I stray lol. So this is my wrap up time. I close out everything I have done in a good way so I can return to it and pick up where I left off. I also start dinner depending on what we’re having. If its something fancy, its probably half way finished but if its something quick I may just wait until the kids are home.
2-5pm I grab snacks for the kids car ride, choose what were doing after school then pick up have snacks and have some fun!
The end of the day we do dinner, tv and follow the kids list. Then violá the day is complete.