April has been an amazing month, so far!  Silas is branching out a little more every day and every day, we learn something new about his ADHD.  We’re working to figure out how he handles things day to day and learning how to adapt when things fail for him.

ADHD is a hard battle if you’re trying to win it – and there are some days I’m convinced it simply can’t be won.  It’s a learning strategy.  For me, the most frustrating part – and probably why I try the hardest is that I see how smart our little guy is and I know it frustrates him just as much when he knows the answer and can’t seem to connect the dots.  It’s like that inevitable ‘it’s on the tip of my tongue’ statement at every pass.

Diet has been a big piece for Silas and when we drop the ball on this, we do notice he struggles more.  Protein is good for the brain.  Red dye (yellow, orange, purple, etc.) are all bad.  Basically, if it’s got dye in it, it came from the middle of the supermarket and it’s not a good food choice.  Shop the perimeters of the supermarket, not the middle aisles, as one doctor told me.  But diet isn’t everything.

We’ve also looked into the Nemechek Protocol.  We’ve upped his fish oil onto a VERY good fish oil made by ProOmega.  Its got 1010MG of DHA (which is VERY hard to find).  DHA is the important stuff and you’ll notice that a lot of the fish oil is ‘total fish oil’ not breaking it down by DHA.  DHA is what makes the difference. You can order it here.

It’s not terrible tasting, but it’s not great, either.  It’s oil people. Fish oil, at that.  But he chases it with a swig or orange juice or applesauce (below) and he’s fine.  We give about 5 ML of that nightly.

We also give him about a tablespoon of Inulin.  There’s a big debate going on in the world or Pro vs. Prebiotics.  But at the end of it, the commonality is that gut health is important.  I’m not saying that gut health cures ADHD.  I’m sure you can tame it, but I can tell you that by giving a food PREbiotic and REMOVING Probiotics, we’ve made a dent in some of it, too.  The one we use is this one sold on Amazon, by Now.  It’s super cheap and we just mix it with applesauce.

We do still do medication.  If you’re interested in hearing more on that, you can certainly e-mail me or click the Contact me link in my blog and let’s chat.  I can tell you what’s worked for us, and what hasn’t.

Homework days can be difficult, but then there are other days that he does very well.  I’ve also noticed that with most kids with learning issues or things like ADHD, pets seem to be a key player.  Silas finds peace in rehabilitating animals or taking care of something smaller that needs his attention.  He finds calm through the stormy days and this enables him to focus on something other than the bigger picture of what may seem like failure.  If you haven’t considered an animal, try taking your kiddo down to a shelter and let them spend some time, just petting animals.  Those animals need love anyway and it would be a good way to help your kiddo focus on something else.

Lastly, little bit and I got our hair cut.  I chopped off several inches of mine and she just got her dead ends trimmed.  My friend Kelly does an amazing job with curly hair – if you need a stylist, let me know!

And I’m continuing to make these little wallpapers for my phone – per Silas’ request.  He loves for me to have his weekly Bible verse on there to help keep it as a reminder for me to be nicer as a person (and for him to help him learn his verse at school).

So, tell me…what has your week been like?