How do I be a good mother?

Because, you see, I am not like so many other lucky mothers who can call their moms or grandmothers and ask, "Hey, I did this when I was a kid, so what do I do now that my kid is doing this?".

I am alone in this because my mother was largely absent, due to either drugs, alcohol or just plain voluntary she didn't give a damn (she tries to make up for that now, but is another post for another time).

So now I raise my 9 year old child, who is quite brilliant, except she suffers from an extreme form of ADHD. And before any of you waste your breath with ADHD and its over-prescriptions and its implications --- understand. Google ADHD and whatever else you need to do to understand. It is a REAL disorder that affects REAL people in a REAL way.

We both have this disorder. And it cripples us from day to day. We cannot remember appointments, homework, assignments, etc. We are slowly sucking at life. I have invented various ways to deal with my own disorder, but it hurts me to watch her struggle on a day-to-day basis. It hurts me to watch her wade through her life through the lens of a disorder she could not being to understand.

I want to call my mother and ask her, "What did you do when I did this?". I want to call someone and ask them, "How can I help her do better in school?", "How do I help her remember her homeword?".


I feel alone with my child and I need help to get her through this. She is brilliant and shows promise that would baffle others -- but her teachers won't see it because she "talks excessively in class" and "doesn't follow direction well".

I invite those teachers to live a day in either of our lives and then see how they evaluate.