The Decision Whether To Medicate Your Child

We all have an opinion about this topic. Well, most of us do anyway. On the one hand, ADHD is probably over diagnosed and therefore many children are needlessly medicated. On the other hand, if medication can help a child function better in school and in life, why keep that help away from him or her?

One of my very favorite bloggers, Dawn Meehan, wrote a really great post about this subject. She gives her personal experience, as a mother of 6 kids, then 10 pieces of advice to consider when making this decision. I found it very insightful, so I wanted to pass it along to you all. Enjoy!

ADHD: To Medicate or Not to Medicate? How You Can Decide
By Dawn Damalas Meehan

Just remember, whatever you decide will be right for you. Don’t let others influence your decision. And as Dawn points out, nothing is forever. If you decide to change your mind, that’s okay, too!

Karen

Breathing and Believing

If you've read Karen's post from Wednesday, you'll know that she posted about fellow blogger Dawn Meehan. Dawn is a funny, funny writer. She brings a bit of sunshine to sometimes dreary or frustrating days. Dawn has had a rough couple of years. (You can read her story here). Dawn is pretty much doing it on her own, so her friends started a Meehan Hope Fund.

People have been contributing to the fund to help Dawn get through this time. She has mounting medical bills and some home repairs that desperately needed to be done (truly health hazards). Now Dawn, being a SINGLE MOTHER OF SIX KIDS, is extremely grateful for all monies contributed toward keeping her afloat. She is a hard worker. I think that even in the best, most idyllic circumstances, having 6 children would be a lot more than I could handle, let alone keep my sense of humor and be nice to other people.

All of this to say, the other day, she took her daughters to a very inexpensive salon and got them pedicures. She used a small amount of the donations to do this with. And a few of the people who had donated decided to get sassy with her and tell her how horrible it was that she used someone else's money for this time alone with her girls.

Let's be clear... It's called a mental health break. It's called girl time and bonding with your daughters. It's called building relationships with your daughters so that they know it's not all about the other kids.

She didn't go on a shopping spree. She did not put down money on a Cadillac Escalade. She did not take a vacation in the Caribbean.

She got her daughters' toes painted.

Give the woman a break. Sometimes we all need a little something to brighten our spirits. Maybe yours is chocolate. Maybe it's a massage. Maybe it's catching a matinee or a white chocolate carmel mochalatte. Just a little something to ease your mind and take a break- rejuvinate.

And if she used my donation to do it, I really don't care. I'm happy that she did it. She's not the kind of woman who is going to spend all of the money all willy nilly. So let's all take a breather and when we are looking at a situation that maybe we don't understand or don't agree with, take a breath, believe the best and then try not to judge.

After all, wouldn't you want someone to do the same for you?

Yours, breathing and believing,

Melissa

PLEASE HELP A FELLOW BLOGGER–DAWN MEEHAN

I’ve never used our blog to ask for help for somebody before, or even for a greater cause. Yes, I’ve used it to sell our own book (well, duh, as my kids would say!) but this is a first for me.

Dawn Meehan is the genius behind the blog Because I Said So and the author of two books, the latest being You’ll Lose The Baby Weight (And Other Lies About Pregnancy And Childbirth). She is also one of the first bloggers to promote our first book. Dawn is one of the funniest people I have ever read!

So now she is in trouble. About a year ago, her husband left her (which wasn’t a bad thing actually), but in leaving her, he left her 6 kids also. Really. He cut off all contact with them. She did the best she could, and kept her sense of humor throughout it all. But when her 2 oldest boys had to be hospitalized with depression, she started to break down. And now, her husband has lost his job, which means no more health insurance, and she’s at the end of her rope.

Dawn’s good friend and web designer “hijacked” her website and set up a place to make donations through paypal for her. I’ve put the widget on the right side of our blog. See it over there? Click HERE to get to her blog. Take a look and see if you remember her as the mom who got her start when she took her kids grocery shopping and found some baseball cards in her bags when she got home. She put them on eBay with a hilarious story about what it’s like to go shopping with 6 kids and the story went viral. The rest was history for Dawn. (But blogs make ZERO money and books make surprisingly little!) You could help her out by giving via Paypal or by buying her book. And by passing the word!

Thanks, everyone! No, this isn’t going to save the world. But by helping one person who helps so many, it’s a good start!

Karen