Living with a child with ADHD inevitably brings the odd challenge along the way…When those challenges arise the behaviour and reactions of those around you can make a difficult situation better or worse
Yesterday I was lucky to be in the company of a very lovely Nan! Here’s what happened.
We were in Plymouth visiting the beautiful lighthouse. The boys wanted to climb to the top – so did I! Hubby decided to stay at the bottom while we trekked up the 93 steps.
I spoke to Bam about how it was important he was sensible and listened while we climbed the tower. ‘Yes Mum, I promise, I’ll listen’
So we started our journey up the lighthouse. Side note – it’s really beautiful and very interesting. The beds they used to sleep in were really tiny and Mops was very intrigued about how they managed to get the beds up the tower! Sorry no photo as I was too busy chasing Bam up the tower!
We reached the top of the tower – the lantern. It was enclosed with windows. Bam was very excited and he started climbing. So I asked him to stop quite a few times but he just wasn’t able to take my instructions on board. So I felt that it wasn’t safe for him to go onto the outdoor viewing gallery. I was worried about him climbing.
I explained to Bam that I didn’t feel comfortable with him going outside. This of course caused a meltdown with tears and attempted escapes to the outdoor viewing gallery. It was frightening! At this point Mops had wandered out on to the outdoor viewing terrace.
I was then blessed with a random act of kindness from a lovely family – a Nan and Grandad with their grandson.
The Nan went to get Mops from the outdoor viewing terrace which left me able to deal with Bam knowing Mops was safe.
I managed to get Bam back down the stairs…it wasn’t pretty. Most of the stairs were ladders, I had a skirt on and protecting my dignity wasn’t top of mind! My bag then fell open and my mobile phone fell to the floor. The lovely grandad of the fore mentioned family picked up my phone – no cracked screen!
We made it down, all 3 of us safe and sound. I explained to the Nan that Bam has ADHD and thanked her for her help. She said ‘well you handled that really well and remained calm in a scary situation’ then she grabbed my arms in a friendly, well done type of way!
Her kindness brought a tear to my eye. I can’t tell you how much difference it makes to have kind and helpful people around you. I actually came away from the situation feeling positive rather than sad and judged!
Thank you lovely family…I saw this quote this morning ‘A simple act of kindness can make a tremendous impact on somebody’s day’
Slugs and Snails Tales 