Mornings can be tough in an ADD household.
Many ADDers have blood sugar issues. Even if they are not obviously hyper they may still be hypoglycemic. In English, their brain needs to be fed regularly or it runs on empty. Without fuel the part of the brain that makes us human is shut down. What's left is the primitive part, the reptile brain. A brain on empty has no impulse control. It cannot think.
Let's picture the early morning in 'Chateau Chaos', home of 9 year old Andy. Andy and his Mom both have ADD. Mom has not come across Flylady yet.
It is 7 AM. Andy last ate at dinner 12 hours ago.
ADDers often have a hard time with transitions. Falling asleep is not easy and waking up isn't either.
Andy wakes up ravenously hungry but too out of it to realize that he needs food.
Andy's first task of the day is getting dressed.
His closet is a nightmare with far too many clothes. Mom is a pack-rat who loves thrift shops and garage sales. She is also an ADD procrastinator.
She honestly plans to go through Andy's stuff one of these days. But life is so busy, and the task looks so daunting. She just doesn't know where to start. Maybe she'll do it tomorrow.
A lot of Andy's clothes are on the floor. Some are clean, some are dirty. Some fit,some don't. Some need buttons put on or zippers repaired. Some are OK but he hates them.
The simple chore of getting dressed is totally overwhelming.
Andy responds first by not getting up till he has been yelled at a few times. Then he has a screaming fit till Mom comes to help him assemble an outfit.
In the process even more stuff ends up on the floor. His half-finished homework is somewhere underneath there.
Feeling cranky and irritable Andy heads to the kitchen for breakfast.
Mom, Dad, and big sister are milling around getting ready for work or school. Mom is frantically hunting for big sister's gym strip.
Andy helps himself to his favorite sugary cereal for breakfast. His brain will be running on empty before recess. The kids have to run to catch the school bus. Andy's homework never made it to his school bag.
All interactions with his family so far have been based on anger and frustration.
The poor kid is stressed out before the day has even begun!
Now compare this to a FlyLady morning.
Andy had a nutritious snack just before bedtime. His brain-fuel gauge is not quite at zero yet. Andy's alarm goes off ten minutes before he has to get up. Some juice is ready by his bed to give him a blood sugar boost right away.
Mom and Andy have tackled the closet monster the FlyLady way. That means 15 minutes at the time, and FLING what doesn't make you smile! Andy's clothes are all in his closet or in his hamper.
Part of the evening routine is laying out clothes for the morning. All he has to do now is put them on. By the time he joins the family in the kitchen Andy feels halfway human.
Breakfast today is a nutrition-loaded smoothie and some whole grain toast with organic peanut butter. Andy's brain will be just fine for most of the morning.
As part of the evening routine everyone's school stuf has been placed on a small table by the door, the "launching pad".
Andy's homework is done and in his pack. The kids leave home for the bus with time to spare. Nobody had to yell or got yelled at. There were smiles and hugs instead.
Won't Andy have a much better chance at a good day in school today?
Will regulating blood sugar and tidying the room solve all your ADD problems?
Only if your child has 'nothing but' hypoglycemia mimicking ADD.
But it is a great place to start. Side effect: the whole family will be healthier.
Some of you may be new to all this nutrition stuff. No worries! Cooking from scratch really is not rocket science. It also doesn't have to take much more time than nuking the take-out, and think of the money you'll save.
I have heard rave reviews of the service of Leanne Ely, a nutritionist and sidekick to FlyLady. She will take you by the hand, show you how to cook and do the planning for you. The small subscription fee will pay for itself. There is lots of free information on the site as well.
For people who like to know which foods have which nutrients, there is http://www.whfoods.org/
Recipes, analyses, cooking lessons, a newsletter. I would love to get the cookbook but meanwhile there is wealth of information, all free.
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