DBTL: ADD/ADHD Awareness

When my daughter was in middle school and high school, she would frustrate me to no end with the way she never seemed able to just settle down and get her homework done.

No, she had to be in her room, with the music on, a book in her lap, her phone in her hand texting her friends, and then a song would come on and she'd be singing, and two hours later she might have gotten 30 minutes worth of work done.

At the time we kidded her about being a spacy blonde.

Then she got to college and was struggling with a full-time classload. A family friend offered to tutor her. This friend will always be one of our guardian angels, because she was the one who recognized the signs of what was really going on and encouraged my daughter to go see the doctor.

Within five minutes with the doctor, my daughter had met so many of the criteria on the checklist that she was diagnosed as ADD/OCD/Anxiety with a touch of Depression. Among the medications she started, she was put on Ritalin. Within the first couple days, she made a comment to me that finally clued me in on what it was like in her brain:

"I feel like I'm only having one conversation with myself instead of eight."

Since then, I have tried to be more patient, and I have been learning more about Attention Deficit Disorder, and now her behaviors make so much more sense to me. They're still frustrating at times, but at least I understand WHY they happen.

So I was glad when this month's awareness theme focused on ADD/ADHD. If you want to find out more about what it's like to live with these disorders, you can read about it here.

As usual, the Digi Blog Train List designers have put together a great collection of items for you. You can collect their kits at:

Moore Blessings Digital Design
Dreamn4Ever Designs
Ostrea Designs
KJD designs
Angel Wing Scraps
Dea’s Design
DigiJen Scraps  <-- you are here
Shuckclod’s Stuff
DBTL FB Page(click bonus)

And now for my offering:

DOWNLOAD

As usual, I tried to find some bits with a little humor and some that can promote some understanding. I hope you are able to use them to scrap about your own struggles with ADD/ADHD or those of someone you love.

See you back here April 10th for the Scrap Designers Blog Train - the theme will be "Pet-astic!"  (Plus I'm planning a surprise based on my own fandom interest.) ;)

SDBT: The Sounds of Music

Hello, and welcome to March!

When I was in 2nd grade, I started taking piano lessons. As the years went on, I not only played for myself, but I also played for the junior high and high school choirs, dabbled in music arranging for a ladies quartet, and now sometimes fill in for the our church choir director when she has to miss a rehearsal. Music has been such an important outlet for me - it is my worship language, and my mom used to say she could tell when I was upset about something because I would practice my piano lessons extra long...and extra loud.

Even if you never had a music lesson or sang a note in your life, you can't escape music. It's on the radio. It's in the background of the TV shows we watch and the movies we go see. Some poets even say there is music in the sound of a baby's laugh or a running creek.

"The Sounds of Music" are such an intrinsic part of life, and I'm thrilled that it was chosen as this month's theme for the Scrap Designers Blog Train. Our designers have come up with some fantastic, bright-colored freebies for you. Feel free to hop around and see what each has to offer:

SugarButt Artistic Designs

Promethean Concepts

KJDdesigns

Songbird Scraps Designs

Moore Blessings Digital Design

Nellie Bell

DigiScrap Angelhaze

Skinni’s Scraps and Stuff

DigiJen Scraps <-- You are here.

And here is my contribution for this month. I found so many good quotes about music, it was hard to narrow it down! But ultimately, it seemed that these might be the meaningful to the most people.

DOWNLOAD

(If you have trouble with the download, please let me know. The link didn't process quite like I expected, so I don't know if that's just a new thing or if it's a problem.) 

Remember to keep a song in your heart, and I'll see you back here around March 20th for the next Digi Blog Train List Awareness train! This month is ADD & ADHD Awareness.