The Meaning of Success

What does success look like for parents of children with ADHD/ADD?Success looks like a typical child bathed in the glow of a miracle. I can take my daughter to Girl Scout Encampment and watch her delight in nibbling garlic-mustard leaves as though it's magic. Her fingers reach tentatively to pet a tree frog, and she shivers at the feel its skin. She is focused, engaged, and I am filled with joy. The thrill of watching an eight-year-old slowly sound out short-vowel sounds that roll off the tongues of most literate five-year-olds, that's success. Walking hand-in-hand with a child who doesn't exhaust me by jumping and pulling on my arm, that's success. Spending a day in the woods with my child actually enjoying her company rather than chasing her and watching flocks of birds fly up wherever she goes, that's success. What other parents take for granted, I have learned to appreciate.