Hello Single Moms & Friends,
This week’s show is all about considering what’s GOOD about our children’s challenges–even the acute ones. Before you get a pitch fork out, consider the metaphor of the butterfly.
A Butterfly’s Journey
There was once a woman who while gardening noticed a caterpillars’ cocoon, and the butterfly that was trying to emerge. There was a tiny crack and this butterfly was fighting to open it. For hours she watched it struggle and struggle to work its way through the crack. After a long while it seemed to stop. It had expended all it’s energy and couldn’t do any more.
So the loving and caring woman thought “Let me help.” She carefully took a tiny garden tool and gently cracked open the opening a bit further so the butterfly could emerge. Sure enough, it worked and the butterfly came sliding out and landed on the ground.
It was all curled up and she waited expectantly for it to open its wings and fly, except it never did. It remained a withered creature for the rest of its life. What this woman discovered later was this: cracking open the cocoon is nature’s way of moving fluid from the butterfly’s body to its wing. The struggle was necessary and divine for the butterfly to build the strength to some day fly on its own.
When you’re tempted to think that your children’s challenges are nothing but negative, consider the Butterfly’s Journey and whether there is some purpose to it all. You’ll see what I mean when you listen to this weeks show.
Blessings!
Julia
ABOUT THIS WEEK’S RADIO SHOW: “Listen here“
The Epidemic of ADHD/ADD in kids and what’s GOOD about it!
with ADHD/ADD coach and specialist, Laurie Dupar
What could possibly be good about ADHD/ADD? Google “ADHD” and you’ll get 62 million hits of symptoms, medications, and side effects. You’ll find a long list of everything that’s wrong—all the ways ADHD/ADD children aredeficient, how they fail to, how they are less than, and what they can’t do—and very few sites or experts who say anything positive. But there is one.
Today’s guest, Laurie Dupar, is that exception, a trained mental health nurse-practitioner, best-selling author, and ADHD/ADD family coach who successfully raised two children with ADHD. “I had to find some way to reframe the problem, or it would have killed me,” Laurie says. She urges parents to understand the challenges, yes, but also to see the whole child—his or her gifts, strengths, and competencies. “I’ve never met an adult or child with ADHD who hasn’t had amazing qualities,” says Laurie. “But we tend to focus on what’s wrong and what’s not working—to the detriment of seeing the bigger picture and seeing it accurately.”
On this show, Laurie will give you—through real-life stories from her own life and the lives of her clients—a new way of thinking about what ADHD is. “When you understand what ADHD is and isn’t,” she explains” “you handle challenges better, you get less upset and uptight, and your household is more peaceful.”
Laurie will also offer solutions to common challenges your child might face, such as
- How the depression and frustration of being different from your friends can be coped with
- How social skills may be harder to develop but can be mastered
- How medication is not a “magic bullet,” but requires constant tweaking and changing as the brain grows
ADHD/ADD challenges are not trivial. But when you see things from a long-range, broader perspective—when you encourage your kid to focus on his or her strengths—you’ll have a terrific advantage. Having ADHD/ADD may seem like a curse, but consider that it can also be a part of your child’s unique recipe for greatness. Just a thought. Listen in, share this link with a friend, and leave your comments below.
TO RECEIVE A FREE COPY OF DR. ROY MARTINA’S TIPS OF HANDLING KIDS WITH ADHD (including recommended vitamin supplementation) send me an email to: julia_espey@mac.com