Mother,
I whirled faster than the other little ones
Even when I was inside,
Making you go in a tizzy and wonder,
How you would keep stride
When I came in this world,
Happily you put me in the cradle
I squirmed my way out,
You were horrified to see me tumble.
As a toddler, I climbed railings
And jumped to fly like an Eagle,
Your heart stopped beating, as I lost two front teeth
And was in a utter mangle.
You started anticipating my moves,
To protect me from future damage,
Trying to teach me impulse control,
So that I can cope and manage.
Then came a time when I stepped out
Into the outside world, without you in my tow,
I saw tears in your eyes while letting go,
But to social diktats you had to bow,
Here I was assigned a place to sit,
Asked to walk in a line, and wait for my turn,
Others my age did it, but I couldn't,
With unshed tears my eyes began to burn.
That day I realized I was different;
I couldn't do things that were simple for another,
But the thought din't stay with me for long;
As usual it wandered all over,
You tried hard to inculcate in me
The skills of listening, sitting and paying attention,
But this was tough for me;
As I only knew movement, activity and motion.
At times you felt like giving up,
But if you wouldn't then who would,
Knowing this you got up,
Helping me as much as you could,
As I grew up there were significant others too
Who tried to help and teach,
It wasn't easy for anyone to work with a fidgety child,
But yet the tried to reach.
Then the journey began,
Of discovering my true potential, which was dormant,
Unlearning and modifying behaviors
And making appropriate behavior permanent,
You were taught too,
About home management and behavior management,
I got a new name,
ADHD
This was my new identity, my new classification.
Today as an adult, I know how to manage;
I invest all my energy in work,
I work long and hard,
am never known to evade duty or responsibility shrink,
But as I look back I wonder how
You bore all the suffering,
Mother, thank you for being there,
You were my silent blessing.
This is a poem from a book called "
Taming the Tornado : A Parental Manual to Manage the ADHD Child" by "
Samindara Hardikar-Sawant"
