My six year old daughter has lately been unable to keep her fingers out of the peanut butter. I would frown at one taste with a clean spoon, but that would require more foresight and restraint than she has right now. It is not limited to peanut butter. She has taken to raiding the refrigerator, exploring the contents of dresser drawers other than her own, and climbing up to reach forbidden objects. I've noticed an uptick in disobedience and defiance, more tantrums, more distress in the feel of snug clothing against her body. And then it hit me. We are reducing the medication she was taking because it was not effective enough to keep her calm enough to learn.
This particular medication did have somewhat of a calming effect on my daughter. However, it does contain an artificial color in the coating on the pill. My child is allergic to artificial dyes--they dramatically increase her hyperactivity, impulsivity, non-compliance, and inattentiveness. We had hoped that the medicine would overcome the effects of the dye, but no such luck. So we are gradually decreasing the dosage.
This means, of course, that over the next couple of weeks, my daughter will be getting less and less of the medicine but all of the dye. I'd ask someone to wake me up when it's over, but I have to be on hand to contain the damage. At least it is only a couple of weeks.
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