The First ADHD Parenting Challenge Winner

Way back in May I marked my one year anniversary of blogging for ADDitudeMag.com with a goal-setting challenge. I made a goal for myself to cure myself of ADHD by Proxy--the ADHD-like tendencies that have plagued me since I began parenting a child with ADHD. Here’s a really good example of how far I haven’t come toward meeting my goal: it’s August, and I’m just now announcing the winners! I know, I’m pathetic, aren’t I?

To make matters worse, I’m only ready to announce one winner out of five. I want to provide an update on how each winner is doing toward his or her own goal, as described in entrants’ comments to my post, and I’ve only corresponded about this with one person so far. Yeah, I know. I’m worse than pathetic.

One of our winners was Jennifer Covello of Norwalk, Connecticut. She chose the ADHD at School e-book as her prize. Her son Christopher, who has ADHD, will enter 7th grade this fall. I cyber-bonded with Jennifer immediately due to her acknowledgment in her comment that she suffers from ADHD by Proxy too! Oh, the power of knowing I’m not alone in this crazy-making experience!

Jennifer’s goal was to loosen her expectations of herself and her son in hopes they both will learn that “we are not defined by what we do, but how we do it”.

Jennifer reports that summer was a natural time for her to work toward making this happen. Christopher had a goal of reading three books this summer, and Jennifer left it mostly up to him to decide when and how much to read. She gave him a few gentle reminders, but he initiated reading on his own also. By the time summer was halfway over, Christopher was about halfway done, so her plan to lie low and encourage Christopher to take some responsibility is apparently working. “It’s all about baby steps,” Jennifer says.

Jennifer also worked on giving herself a break from her own expectations as she draws upon her background in Information Technology and Marketing to develop a start-up business, Frittabello, LLC. “I have tons of to-do’s and some days there are just not enough hours in the day. I’ve had to learn to focus on completing the tasks that will have the most impact,” she says.

To launch Frittabello, Jennifer wrote and published an award-winning baby journal, My Life: A Chronicle of the Journey. The journal is designed for parents of children from birth to age five. Unlike traditional baby books, which tend to be one-dimensional, My Life encapsulates the true essence of a child by capturing the thoughts and feelings of those who care most about him or her, such as parents and family. It’s available for purchase on Jennifer’s website, frittabello.com.

We all have a vested interest in the success of Jennifer’s endeavors. According to her website, Jennifer believes that children with ADHD and other neurological challenges have gifts that all too often go untapped. She supports organizations that strive to dispel the myths that exist about our children with ADHD. Jennifer will donate 1 percent of Frittabello’s profits to organizations that embrace this philosophy.

Way to go, Jennifer! Keep up the great work. (I’ll try not to hold it against you that you’re leaving me in the dust when it comes to learning to cope with ADHD by Proxy!) I’ll check in with Jennifer in a few months for another update and will announce another of our five winners soon! (Promises, promises!) Really, I will...eventually.