It’s a Tuesday morning in my household. At 6:15, the alarm on my phone rings. I wake up, and pick up my phone to switch it off. I lie in bed for a moment, and open up all of the apps I need in order to function. There’s my personal calendar, my work calendar, my family calendar, my three to-do list makers, and my checklist game, Habitica. As I scroll through these and mentally prepare for my day, I notice I have social media notifications. Almost against my will, my finger taps on them and I scroll through all my likes and comments. Hey, I wonder what Patrick is up to these days. He posted some pictures that look like they were taken in Estes Park. I should check his feed…
Oh, crap! It’s 6:30 now. OK, off I go. I wake up my daughter and start getting the two of us ready. After we’re done showering, my husband comes into the bathroom while we’re doing our hair.
“Hey, did you happen to pick up the dry cleaning?” he asks tentatively.
“Shoot. No. I forgot again.”
I knew there was a reason that alarm went off yesterday afternoon, but I couldn’t remember why. I have got to start remembering to label my alarms, otherwise they’re no help. I try to say sorry, and my husband says it’s OK, but I know he’s annoyed. And why not? That dry cleaning has been waiting for us for like two weeks, and I’m the only one who can get there after work before the store closes.
My daughter and I race off to school with minutes to spare. We forgot to pack lunches the night before (in her defense, she’s in kindergarten), so it’s cafeteria food for us again…
Let’s pause for a second
It all made so much sense
All those hours of lectures where I drew pages and pages of comics instead of taking notes, yet still did fine on the tests. The classes where I read romance novels under my desk. All those college classes I skipped because I couldn’t listen, and I knew that I’d get more from reading the book and talking to peers anyway. I was lucky enough that I was able to adapt and exert some level of self-control, because my desire to succeed was, thankfully, stronger than the crippling symptoms of my learning disorder.
However, my time as a student is over, and I could not for the life of me come up with ways to mitigate ADHD’s effects on my ability to be a full partner to my husband or a responsible mom for my daughter.
It’s going to be a long road, but with this diagnosis, I’m excited to try some treatment strategies. I’m going to begin with medication, and continue to research executive-functioning “hacks” to keep life running smoothly. This experience has certainly opened up my eyes and will directly inform my teaching as well.
If my typical morning sounds like yours, don’t hesitate to contact a healthcare professional and talk to them about ADHD. Just don’t forget to set a reminder on your phone and label it!
