School’s out and if you’re a mom with ADHD, you’re either laughing or crying. Laughing, maybe, because you don’t have to deal with homework battles, IEPs, worrying about your child’s academic success, him being bullied, issues with friends, etc.
Crying because now you have 2 1/2 months to figure out how to keep your child entertained, happy and out of trouble.
Last night, my daughter asked me the one question that always puts a chill up my spine. It’s not about sex. Or drugs. No, I’ve mastered those topics, for the most part. At least in terms of feeling comfortable discussing them.
No, what she asked was, “Mom, will you play Sorry with me?”
Ever since my kids were little, I have always hated playing board and card games. I hated sitting through the 50th video playback of Barney, Mr. Rogers, Raffi (is he still around?). Well, you get the picture. Certain kiddy activities are simply over the top dull. Well, for me, at least.
Board games are aptly named, in my opinion, because they bore me to death. Sitting at a table, waiting your turn, playing games that typically hold no strategy and seem to go on for a hundred hours, is not my idea of fun. I’ve struggled for years over this one, thinking I was a horrible mom for either going along with the request but detesting every painful minute, or avoiding it like the plague (“Sure, Mackenzie…just give me a few minutes while I , etc.).
I finally realized that this was a no-win situation. One of us would be unhappy. So over the years, if I simply could not fathom the idea of playing a ridiculously boring game with my daughter, I’d suggest a re-direct. The best “out” was running out to get ice cream- that always worked. We still had time together and we both ended up very happy.
But last night, I did play Sorry. And I lost. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet.
