Managing Holidays with ADHD

Not everyone with ADHD has difficulty with holidays, but I think many children with ADHD do.  It has to do with lack of sleep, being off diet, and being out of the routine.  How much do you allow deviance from the normal in the name of family and tradition, and how much do you enforce the routine in the name of sanity?   Its a balancing act, for sure.

This week we have DH's mother visiting from out of town.  Her idea seems to be that she needs to spoil us as much as possible because she only sees us once or twice a year.  The only problem is that she cannot seem to understand that (1) putting us out of our routine makes us all stressed and more or less out of sorts, and (2) spoiling the kids by feeding them junk isn't really doing something positive for them.    She may stand by and say, "Oh my, I wonder if that (artificially colored and flavored sugar filled smoothie) made them act crazy?"  but then she's back again the next day trying to feed them artificially flavored and colored frozen yogurt at bedtime.

My thoughts are that sacrificing the routine in the name of family and tradition are a good thing if:
1)  all the people involved learn something positive or get positive memories from the experience
2)  the damage does not last for days following the event (for example, if grandma makes 4 dozen cookies filled with artificial food coloring and then leaves them all for us to eat).

How do you decide when to sacrifice your therapeutic routine and diet for family and tradition during the holidays?  Leave a comment!

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