The Prince of ADHD Impulse Control

Natalie celebrated her 9th birthday last Sunday with five friends and various family members, at Ames’ Happy Joe’s. The adults in attendance are still laughing about the event’s best attention deficit moment, which came not from Natalie, but from her ADHD-mirror-image and good friend, Harry.

After raiding the lunch buffet, and powering through a small fortune in quarters in the game room, the kids circled around Natalie’s SpongeBob Squarepants birthday cake. I lit the nine candles, and we all sang.

As “Happy Birthday” drew to a close, Natalie sucked in some air, and...

Harry blew out all the candles.

Nat crossed her arms with a huff, put chin to chest, pushed out that lower lip, and trained angry blue eyes on Harry.

“We’ll light them again! Don’t worry! It’s okay! We’ll just light them again, and this time you can blow them out!” I rushed to Harry’s rescue.

“Harry...,” I warned, as I finished relighting the candles.

Check out Harry in this photo--he’s the prince of impulse control!

Harry held his lips shut--physically--throughout the reprise of “Happy Birthday” and after, as Nat blew out her candles. Impulse control as an act of ADHD friendship! Nat appreciated it nearly as much as the super-powered water-blaster he selected for her gift.

And so, another fond memory enters Natalie and Harry’s Official ADHD Annals. I love it when they make us laugh!