Before Harry Potter was born I was convinced I’d never medicate my children.

I was also convinced that preschool was for lazy parents… my how things change. 

We’ve struggled with Harry Potter’s attention span for years.

He’s either laser focused or all over the place, there really isn’t a middle ground.

This hyperactivity and lack of attention can be… frustrating.

Actually it’s just maddening.

He has a hard time looking us in the eye to listen to directions, gets out of his seat without warning because he thought of something random, and walks into busy parking lots because he can’t remember to stay with us.

When his pediatrician diagnosed him with ADHD, she asked if we would be open to a low dose of medication.

I was wary.

Ok I’m still wary.

I felt all those judging eyes on me.

I could just hear people saying “so you’re basically giving your kid speed…”

And I could hear them telling me I was turning him into a zombie for my own convenience.

But…

I pushed passed that.

I want to be open minded. I wanted to look at all the tools available to us, and I wanted to help him.

I want to believe that ADHD is something that Harry Potter can use to his advantage, but I’m smart enough to know that in order to use it to his advantage he has to learn to control it.

He can’t control it now.

The constant activity makes him anxious.

He knows people are frustrated with him and that makes him more anxious which makes it that much harder to focus and sit still.

So we started the medication.

When I asked him how he felt, he said “Mom I feel SO happy!”

He went on and on about how felt so good, how he could concentrate, and how because he could pay attention he got a hit in baseball.

This was huge. He’s playing coach pitch and he actually hit the ball and ran to first base in time.

The other kids are at least a year older and a lot more coordinated, he’s been disappointed this season and working for that hit… and today he got it.

I can’t attribute the hit entirely to the medication. He’s been practicing and improving by leaps and bounds this season, but he was right, he looked at the pitcher the entire time and that made a huge difference.

At the end of the day he asked “Mom can I please keep taking the medication?”

His Day One reaction reminded me of those kids that get glasses for the first time and realize that trees have leaves.

The contrast in his head was that big.

And the realization for me that he needed help was huge. I’ve thought for years that his inattention and hyperactivity were symptoms of his age and personality, not something that he needed help with.

I thought he’d grow out of it, but time continued to pass and if anything things just got worse.

Day Two went pretty much the same.

During bedtime he said “Mom can you please tell the doctor I want to take the medicine?”

A week later he was given an award for being a good listener at school… premedication this NEVER would have happened.

So we’re on the medication roller coaster.

We’re figuring out dosage, timing, and how therapy factors into all of that.

And while those judging eyes are still on us, and while I’m still nervous about giving my kid this medication… he’s happier.

He’s so much happier.

He’s focused, he’s in less trouble at home and at school, and this is what he wants to do.

We’re learning to accept that things don’ look exactly like we planned, and we’re learning that ADHD can be used to his advantage. If there was ever a kid who could use ADHD to his advantage I know it’s Harry Potter.