Playgroup is the lifeline of a lot of moms. New moms, old moms, expat moms, native moms…whatever. If you have kids who don’t go to “big school”(read:full time elementary), a playgroup is the answer to not just keeping the little ones busy, but the best way to spend time with kindered spirits of the “hood”.

The problem is, some members of the “hood” can’t help but take advantage of the situation. I just got an email from the coordinator mom of one of my kids playgroups with list of guidelines and rules. Very necessary, she said because of the certain way things were going lately. There were rules like:

“No leaving your kids without supervision. This is NOT a daycare. If you cannot be around, you must okay it with the host first”.

These new rules were especially pertinent when at a playgroup at my house the other day, one mom texted me at 5.00 pm (the set time for pick-up) and asked if it was ok if she left her 2 kids (4 years and 2 years) with us until “around” 8.30 pm because she and her husband had gone to some far-off place to buy fish for their aquarium and would “probably” be stuck in traffic. Grrrrr….

First of all, I didn’t know her that well (our kids are Kindergarten classmates), and second of all, anyone with young kids should know that from 6-9 pm is the “crunch” time of the day to get your kids fed,bathed and put to bed - and not still be in playgroup. I was seething. Probably because I knew in my heart that she probably could get them earlier if she wanted to, but decided to go shopping instead with the hubby. Double grrrr.

[tags]parenting,kids,playgroup,protocol,toddlers,kindergarten,moms[/tags]

To de-mystify ADHD a little more , here are the symptoms the doctor will be watching out for, classified into the classic three types. Read and learn:

1. an inattentive type, with signs that include:

* inability to pay attention to details or a tendency to make careless errors in schoolwork or other activities
* difficulty with sustained attention in tasks or play activities
* apparent listening problems
* difficulty following instructions
* problems with organization
* avoidance or dislike of tasks that require mental effort
* tendency to lose things like toys, notebooks, or homework
* distractibility
* forgetfulness in daily activities

2. a hyperactive-impulsive type, with signs that include:

* fidgeting or squirming
* difficulty remaining seated
* excessive running or climbing
* difficulty playing quietly
* always seeming to be “on the go”
* excessive talking
* blurting out answers before hearing the full question
* difficulty waiting for a turn or in line
* problems with interrupting or intruding

3. A combined type, which involves a combination of the other two types and is the most common

[tags]ADHD,ADD,Kids,Health[/tags]

As a follow up on my post some days ago about ADHD Paranoia, I did some research on ADHD, and to be honest, am still non the wiser on whether my paranoia had some basis or not. What I do know is that I do have a daughter who is decidedly a handful (having a tantrum now as I type this over not having TV control because Daddy wanted to watch his sports), and the only way to really find out is through a battery of tests given my a psychiatrist.

So here’s what I dug up:

What is ADHD? Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder. In the old days they used to just say things like “Oh, Jamie is hyper”, but I guess now the norm is more like” oh, Jamie has ADD and takes medication”.

Doctors explain though that the difference between old fashioned hyperactivity which most small kids have, is that kids with ADD have the symptoms for a prolonged period of time and it adversely affects their functions at home, and in social situations. Its frighteningly become a “common” disorder, said to affect 8-10% of school children.

But where is the line drawn between normal naughty kid behaviour and a medical disorder? Unfortunately, like I said earlier, its a call only a trained professional can make.

[tags]ADHD,ADD,Kids,Health[/tags]

My 20-month-old son has NEVER slept through the night. I can’t help comparing him to my 4-year-old girl, who within a few days of taking her home from the hospital slept for 8 hour stretches. Well here’s some news: thats the first rule to assume when you have kids - siblings will always be different, especially when they’re of the opposite sex. I guess that’s why they tell you to avoid comparing, which isn’t too easy.

So my little boy, who is an utter sweetheart in every other way, can be a real nightmare when it comes to sleep. No fail, every single night (save two or three in his short existence, where I prematurely rejoice thinking he has done it- but the next day its back to the old), he’ll wake up two or three times a night, crying miserably to be rocked, danced or fed.

I am determined to stop this exhausting life for both our sakes (miraculously his sister sho shares a room with him sleeps like a log throughout), as I’ve also heard that bad sleep patterns this early and life can be taken into adulthood. Think of all those adults who have to rely on sleep medication, sound effects etc. Come to think of it now, there must be at least 3 people in my extended family who have this problem. Oh dear.

Here’s some advice I found from Dr.Greene when a desperate Mom with the same exact problem wrote in:

“….The first step in helping Nicholas fall asleep at night is to develop a bedtime ritual. This may include an evening feeding at least one-half hour before bed, bath time (a warm bath right before bed tends to make children sleepy), putting on a fresh diaper and clean pajamas, having Nicholas lie in his crib, and reading a bedtime story. Add one new element of the ritual per week for several weeks until you have established a routine that works well for your family. Not all of these steps are necessary, but you may find many of them helpful. At first you will need to stay by Nicholas’s crib, and perhaps keep reading to him, until he falls asleep. Down the road, you will be able to read for a set amount of time and then leave him alone to fall asleep. In the transition period, it is helpful to give him a children’s cassette tape player with a tape of his favorite stories being read by Mom and Dad. Often when children can turn the tape on and listen as long as they want, they will fall asleep very rapidly. This is particularly true when you tell them that you’ll come back in and check on them in a while.”

[tags]toddler,sleeping,sleep problems,sleeping through night[/tags]

As you’ll easily notice from my last posts, my four-year-old is a handful these days. She shouts at the top of her lungs as often as she can, cannot seem to sit still at home for longer than 5 minutes and will do all that is humanly possible for a preschooler to avoid bedtime - or prolong it at least.

The night before last I found her sleeping on the floor in her bedroom, and last night she asked if she could sleep there again. Is this weird behaviour or normal for someone her age?

Anyway, at a meeting at her school the other day where we Moms were roped in to organizing an entire classroom as Mexico (food, costumes,decor and all-yaaaa!) for UN month, her principal started talking about a new music-based program starting for kids with special needs - like ADHD- and I swear, I just felt she was pointedly looking at ME.

I nodded emphatcally to the Principal, but inside a wave of paranoia swept over me. Did she think my daughter had ADHD? To be honest, I don’t really know what it is exactly. I just hear about it everywhere - on tv, through friends, spoken casually in conversation like its the most normal thing in the world.

When I told my husband my worries, he brushed me off saying our daughter was a normal, energetic kid just like he was. Yes, “normally energetic” is ok, but a label like ADHD on your child is a nerve-racking prospect.

So before any more paranoia sets in, I’m off to google for a bit of educating.

[tags]adhd,parenting,kids,mums,mothers,fathers[/tags]