I realized I was ADD only after two of my children received the diagnosis. My son, age 10, was diagnosed ADHD at age 5. Evan is my ADHHHHD child. I often refer to him as my triplet child, as he has the energy of three boys wrapped all in one. My son never stops moving, not even when he sleeps. He was extremely active in my womb when I was pregnant and I knew he was special even before he was born.

My daughter, age 14 was diagnosed ADD after struggling through most of Kindergarten and first grade. She had difficulty learning to read, and she had little tolerance for sounding out words. Today she reads book after book, writes wonderful stories, and hopes to be a writer, actor, and artist. What she does not yet realize is she is already successful at all three of those dreams.

When a doctor friend of mine asked me which parent is ADD, a light bulb moment popped on inside my head. I immediately knew it was not their father. Their father was too mellow, extremely organized, and never forgot anything.

I soon realized as I sat talking with my friend that I was having more success hearing the tick-tick-tick of the office air conditioner than following what he was saying. The tick-tick-tick sound in the background, felt similar to a small child pulling on a mother's shirt saying repeatedly, mom, mom, mom. It is extremely distracting.

Although medicine has proven to be a godsend for my children, now that we have found the right combination, I have been unable to use any stimulant successfully, and have had more success in using my self-taught organizational routines at home and on the job.

I am a Registered Nurse. I work in a hospital based child-adolescent Behavioral Medicine unit. I see patients every week who struggle with the distractability, impulsivity, and inattention of ADD and ADHD. Many parents better understand what their child is living with after I explain what it is like to live with ADD personally.

ADD/ADHD is never an acceptable excuse for children or adults to be aggressive, disrespectful, or sloppy in their schoolwork, job, or home life. ADD/ADHD is a neurological disorder that is treatable. The more family members who have ADD/ADHD and live under the same roof, the more interesting life can be on a daily basis.

If one establishes and follows daily routines life does not have to be chaotic. Life is an experiment in applied chaos anyway. At our home we are learning that everything has a place, and if we put things back where they belong we will be able to find them when we need them, and life is less stressful. Mi vida loca, welcome to my crazy life!