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Nov
11
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 I learned this the hard way when my daughter was diagnosed with Mono. I was humbled when I realized the reason I say YES to most things that make her life so busy, was because IT MADE HER HAPPY! But guess what? IT ALSO MADE HER SICK! It didn’t mean it was good for her for me to say “yes” every time. Read more » | |||
Archive for the ‘Family Rules & Limit Setting’ Category
Blog Posts by Gina Norma
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Nov
01
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Attention mothers! We’re running here, hurrying there, multi-tasking, and stretched to the limit — trying to be everything, all the time, to everybody. But sadly, we cannot. We need to slow down, choose our priorities carefully, consciously, and timed well. I notice that women seem to arrive at a magical time in life, when a dormant passion, a lifelong calling, or something other than motherhood is (re-)discovered and distracts us from our primary caretaking duties. | |||
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Oct
27
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Is it an unreasonable expectation to expect to find a towel hanging on the rod when you go into the bathroom to wash your hands? My husband says no. I say yes. In our home, with 4 boys, three who have ADHD, it is not reasonable to expect that this will occur. | |||
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Jul
27
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I didn’t really see it coming until it hit me in the face directly. I was having a mommy and me day with my youngest child, complete with a trip to the American Girl store that just opened up and then tea at a lovely hotel. While holding a doll named Sue I became giddy over all the little doll shoes, pint-sized picnic sets, and soccer clothes that this grand store was trying to pawn off on us. Although I’d set a fixed price before we left to commemorate our special day, I was so swept up in the moment that we ended up bringing home much more than I intended. My middle child immediately cried foul that his sister got “soooo many goodies,” whereas he got only one souvenir from our day together earlier this summer. So he did what all good big brothers do: he bragged that he was going to a movie and lunch with me the next day when my daughter went to her camp. This naturally sent my daughter into hysterics about how unfair it is that her brother gets everything and she gets nothing, even after my credit card was still smoking from our day’s purchases just hours before. I stared at the two of them and realized something: my kids are greedy. | |||
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Nov
12
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Dear PSL: I am at my wit’s end. I have been trying to get my 19 year old son to get a job for months now. He says he’s trying, but I can’t be sure, as I am not home during the day to supervise him. I also just found out that he has been lying to me about finishing his high school diploma online. I try to motivate him to get a job, but he just doesn’t seem to care. He’s not a bad kid. I just find that I am starting to resent working so hard to put a roof over his head when he is doing nothing all day, and then lying to me about it. What can I do to make him care? –Pulling My Hair Out | |||
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Aug
21
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Fact: for the child with ADHD, the difficult teen years are doubly hard. That’s because all the adolescent problems—peer pressure, the fear of failure both in school and with peers, low self-esteem—are harder for the ADHD child to handle. The desire to be independent, to try new and forbidden things—alcohol, drugs, and sexual activity—are ways that many teens with ADHD self-medicate. And you may wake up one morning to realize that the household rules that were working for years have been thrown out the window. | |||
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Apr
24
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Recently, we finally broke down and got cable T.V. My husband found a great deal, so we decided to take the plunge, even though we’d been hesitant about jumping into the 200+ channel pool. What I didn’t count on was the lure of Sponge Bob. Or Lilo & Stitch. Or Special Agent Oso. My son has officially become a T.V. addict, and it’s scaring me. I’m ready to stage an intervention: “Alex Honey, we love you, but your addiction is preventing you from living your life. When was the last time you rode your bike? Drew a picture? Combed your hair?” My son now quotes Phineas and Ferb on a regular basis. And don’t get me going on Sponge Bob –it makes him manic, I swear. (To be honest, I get a little slap happy whenever I watch. And even more alarmingly, I caught myself laughing like Sponge Bob at a party recently and had to pretend-cough to get out of it.) As for my husband Joe, a few weeks ago I woke to find him in the guest room at 2 a.m., watching an info-mercial with a giddy, expectant look on his face. “Look– we can grow tomatoes upside down on our porch,” he shouted with glee, when I asked him what was going on. In short, in one month, Cable T.V. has taken over our lives. | |||
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Apr
06
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Ah, the battle cry of the “almost adult”! Parents all around the country cringe when they try to enforce a family rule, only to be met with their 17-and-a-half-year-old’s shout: “Soon, you won’t be able to control me at all!” Is that true? Are all bets off once your child reaches that golden age of eighteen? | |||
