This is a stay up late and clean, try to catch up night. While cleaning, I do some of my best "thinking".

While vacuuming I was thinking, "just do more" because I think most of my regrets are caused by what I could have done but didn't when given an opportunity. So do more, go new places, meet new people, have new experiences both for myself and Liz. Children need new experiences (so do adults) and to limit a child's experiences results in a condition known as "lack of exposure". "Lack of exposure" results in delayed development; lack of mental/physical stimulation greatly handicaps a child. Children who are adopted over the age of one year often suffer from "lack of exposure".

I need more self-discipline (this occurred to me while mopping the floor). I need to role model self-discipline for my ADHD child. Both physically and mentally, ADHD children are "all over the place". They need structure and to learn self-discipline to allow them to function successfully. The lack of structure I have allowed to seep into our lives this summer is far from conducive to a self-disciplined life style. Simply stated, I need to do better. The imposed structure of the school year is grueling at times with Liz; getting an ADHD child up and ready for school and out the door on time is often frustrating and always exhausting. I know by the end of the school year I was exhausted from our morning battles/struggles and I couldn't wait for summer. Now, however, I have gone to the other extreme. The result is lazy, lethargic days; Liz is hyper but her energy is not directed towards any constructive, positive activity. I let it get this way over the past couple of weeks and now I need to fix it. Of course, it's much easier to not allow negative behavior to start than it is to fix it. As the parent, I need to get Liz and myself back on track. I'm not talking about extreme structure but reasonable structure resulting in positive, productive days both of us can feel good about.

I am now going to practice self-discipline and stop this babbling and finish my cleaning and get in bed.