Spirited Children who mimic ADD behaviors
Diana Pryntz
Hi Unschooling friends. I noticed from those that respond to this list that
most of you seem to have young children. My oldest, Avi is almost 12 and he
is the one like many of your children - that is very active and fits all 14
on the ADD list. I also have three other younger kids down to age 3. There
is a clear difference between my oldest and the others. It was more subtle
when they were younger but as they all grow I can tell the differences. From
the time he was born until he was around 9, Avi was constantly on the go. He
slept very little compared to other babies and children. He demanded my
attention non-stop. He was always getting into things due to his high level
of curiosity and impulsiveness. He also got hurt a lot because he would act
first and think second. Now those characteristics are still basically a part
of him but he has ways of calming himself. He reads first thing in the
morning and right before he goes to sleep. He also reads during the day
when he wants to calm down. In between he is active. He often involves
himself in building projects with all sorts of materials. At the moment he
is building a fort in our yard using saws, hammers, measuring tools, etc. He
does a lot of physical play with his brothers and he bike rides. In short he
is growing up to be a wonderful person who now is able to direct his energy
to create new things. He is also able to amuse himself and take care of his
basic needs. I can't say on the basis of one child that this is the
direction all ADD children head but there is hope down the road for all of
you. My husband also exhibited those behaviors as a child and now also has
short attention span and is easily distracted but as an adult he is very
successful professional and is a wonderful father and husband and is highly
creative like our son Avi so I think mothering these type of children is
very very hard when they are young but the rewards later are pay off.
most of you seem to have young children. My oldest, Avi is almost 12 and he
is the one like many of your children - that is very active and fits all 14
on the ADD list. I also have three other younger kids down to age 3. There
is a clear difference between my oldest and the others. It was more subtle
when they were younger but as they all grow I can tell the differences. From
the time he was born until he was around 9, Avi was constantly on the go. He
slept very little compared to other babies and children. He demanded my
attention non-stop. He was always getting into things due to his high level
of curiosity and impulsiveness. He also got hurt a lot because he would act
first and think second. Now those characteristics are still basically a part
of him but he has ways of calming himself. He reads first thing in the
morning and right before he goes to sleep. He also reads during the day
when he wants to calm down. In between he is active. He often involves
himself in building projects with all sorts of materials. At the moment he
is building a fort in our yard using saws, hammers, measuring tools, etc. He
does a lot of physical play with his brothers and he bike rides. In short he
is growing up to be a wonderful person who now is able to direct his energy
to create new things. He is also able to amuse himself and take care of his
basic needs. I can't say on the basis of one child that this is the
direction all ADD children head but there is hope down the road for all of
you. My husband also exhibited those behaviors as a child and now also has
short attention span and is easily distracted but as an adult he is very
successful professional and is a wonderful father and husband and is highly
creative like our son Avi so I think mothering these type of children is
very very hard when they are young but the rewards later are pay off.