Keeping a Routine

     All children LOVE routine. In a world filled with uncertainties and full of situations/things they can't control; a routine is something they can count on. People who struggle with ADHD desire and NEED routine all the more. This doesn't just apply to children with ADHD, but adults as well. Our family has a basic routine down during the week, but on the weekends all bets are off. This is not something I'm particularly proud of, I would LOVE to say that we still get up at 6:30-7am, have a pancake and egg breakfast, get dressed, do crafts, lunch, nap, etc, etc, etc.... BUT we do not. First off, this mama likes to SLEEP, and during the week I don't get much. Therefore, I'm guilty of letting the kids stay up an hour or so later (I still go to bed between 10 and 11 because I'm THAT cool), so that they MIGHT sleep until at LEAST 7:30; and if I'm lucky 8am. Secondly, we are often on the go from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. Be it church activities, planned activities with friends and family, or spontaneous trips to places where kids and dogs can RUN. Weekends are about family, and fun... NOT ADHD and hair pulling stress. However, the lack of routine creates its own stress issues.
     Last summer we went on vacation to New York,and J honestly thought we had moved there. This threw her whole world upside down. Her reaction to this was accidents. Not just a couple here and there, but by our second day there we had her exclusively in diapers. As explained to me; the anxiety and stress she felt because of the lack of familiarity and routine caused her to not even be able to recognize her own internal cues for having to go potty. Her therapist diagnosed her with Daytime Urinalysis.
     We had similar issues the previous February shortly after she was moved to a new classroom with a new teacher and new classmates. She would only have accidents there, even happening three times in one afternoon on an occasion. Looking back, it is obvious that this was a reaction to the change in her life. It's just a fairly recent development that we've finally gotten her accidents under control for the most part. But she does have them occasionally when we are doing something out of the ordinary.
     I do have a goal to get our lives more organized, weekends included. It's certainly a difficult thing to do though...
      One person, trying to organize the lives of four people, three of which minds resemble a 20 gallon tub full of jigsaw pieces.