There is a new child living in our house.
He looks exactly like the 7-year old who was living here before. He wears the same clothes and he sleeps in the same bed. But he's not the same child. Not even close. He's happier, funnier, more loving and more in contol.
My wife wrote about these changes in great detail on her personal blog. First with "Meeting My Son For The First Time" and then with "Our Life Is Different Now." We don't use our kids names online, so Rocky always referred to our 7-year old as "Mad Man I" whenever she wrote about him. It was an apt description.
On our trip cross country to West Virginia last year, my wife and I almost pulled out our hair. He was beyond out of control at times. And we were at a complete loss on how to deal with the situation. We have five other children, but none of the techniques we used with them were working on him. He displayed all of the symptoms associated with ADD, ADHD, or ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder).
He was, as my wife describes, like a time bomb waiting to go off. When he was good, he was overwhelmingly good. But when he exploded, it was unbelievable. And we had NO desire to put him on medications. We didn't want to loose the spark that made him who he was.
Then A Miracle Occurred.
I call it a miracle because the change has been so dramatic that I find myself staring at him like a long lost friend, smiling and thinking to myself, "wow, where have you been for so long.?" And all it took was a change of diet.
The solution came right after my wife's recent trip to Africa. His teacher had had enough and suggested we take a high protein diet approach to see what would happen. The first day he was better, but the second day he had one of his worst afternoons ever. His morning was fine, but the rest of the day was a nightmare. Then my wife realized he had purchased lunch that day and found out he had ordered a Cherry Slushy with his lunch. That's not a normal thing.
That one fact caused my wife to ask questions she'd never asked before and finally led her to this article, "Is Red 40 Food Dye Additive Having A Negative Impact On Your Child?"
When she read the symptoms, they fit our son like a glove. So, we went completely organic, first just with him and then with the entire family. I can tell you that what I have witnessed is nothing short of a miracle. The spark that made "Mad Man I" unique is still there, but the time bomb has been difused. His name has been officially changed to "Funny Man." I literally cried when she wrote it for the first time.
This morning he quietly made his way into our bedroom.
It was just before 6am. He was already dressed and ready for school and said he'd been up reading for about 30 minutes, quietly. He then crawled up betwen us and laid there, still, as we both cuddled with him.
There is a new child living in our house. And I'm Falling In Love All Over Again!
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Why am I writing about this here on ActiveRain? Because I know that my wife and I are not alone. We hear stories almost daily from friends who are struggling with similar issues and don't want to put their children on ADD Medication. If you know someone who is struggling with the same kinds of behavioral issues, forward them my wife's posts above. They go into a great deal more detail than I have gone into here. It may be what they need for their own miracle.
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