Death, Taxes, and Other People’s Opinions 11/12/2024

Death, Taxes, and Other People’s Opinions 11/12/24

 We all know the saying, “nothing is certain but death and taxes”. I have found that other people needing to share their opinion is also certain.

Try it. Find a group of people. Any type of group will work. Big. Small. Friends. Strangers. They are all fair game. Now, make a statement; any statement. Beginner level statements might be: “Boy, it’s a nice day” or “I think we’ll have fish for dinner.” You probably will get a lot of agreement or maybe one brave soul will speak up about not liking fish. But mostly they will likely be okay with you deciding to eat fish or enjoy the day.

Are you ready for expert level? In that same group, let’s say you say “My child has ADHD, and we started him/her on medication”.

You are now surrounded by opinions and anecdotes that are great and small, pro and con. Didn’t know you had that kind of power, did you?

Guess what? You are not alone. With our son, we made the mistake of telling people we were thinking about starting him on medication prior to starting the medication. Everyone had an opinion, and since this was years ago, most of them were negative.

Here are some things I remember. If they had ADHD or an ADHD child, they had a pediatrician that mistook zombie effect for treatment. But mostly, they knew someone who knew someone that had a child with ADHD. Across the board, people appreciated the good that comes from modern medication and good doctors - Just not ADHD medication or doctors that treated ADHD; those were bunk. But mostly I loved (read with sarcasm) the looks. I felt like screaming “I said he has ADHD, not that he went out and killed the neighborhood pets.”

This is when I learned to employ my super response. “If he can’t settle his brain down enough to learn to read, then he will not be able to do much.” Mom for the win. People couldn’t argue with that. Okay, some did but I think their moms didn’t settle them down enough to learn to read!

Fast forward to our daughter. Many years had gone by, but the only thing that changed was opinions were split down the middle. More people acknowledged that ADHD is an actual mental health disorder. I still use my super response, smile sweetly and quickly file everything away in my mental trash. The only opinions that matter are mine, my husband’s, my child’s and our doctor’s. You know what is best for your child.