The Joker

          I have a five year old daughter. She is a loving child and also hyperactive. Or should I say impulsive, head strong, or unpredictable? Well how about all of the above? Watching her grow up is a blessing, but there are times I just wish she were already grown up. This morning was one of those times. For those who don't know anything about ADHD children, let me just say "they are impulsive and sometimes uncontrollable." It is a wonderful combination! So I am writing this to let parents with children of a mischievous nature know they are not alone and also because, when I think of some of the things my daughter has done, I laugh.          
I remember when she was born. She had a little bit of hair - white fuzz. Even before she was born, she was headstrong. She didn't want to come into the world so I had to be induced. Then there was the time she took her diaper off and smeared "it" all over our new couch. Her hard-headed nature revealed itself over and over during the potty training years. As a result, she was almost four before she finally started using the potty.          
When she started pre-school, she struggled with the structure of the classroom setting. On the way to lunch, she would sit in the middle of the hallway and not move. Even with prompting, she would just sit there. It got so bad that her teacher would call me to come get her from school. I took her out of pre-school. Shortly after, I decided to discuss her lack of focus and impulsiveness with her doctor. He put her on ADHD medication. Well, then began the battle with the medicine. I knew she would not take a pill so the doctor prescribed a compounded liquid version of the medication. She took it for a while. When she began to realize that it made her feel different, she refused to take it. We went from liquid to gummy bears to the patch and finally ended up with the pill. During this time of stubbornness, she would come home and say "the school police told me I had to take my medicine." The school police was the principle. He would talk to her and tell her she had to take it and she would because he was the "police." The cute little moments like that during the hard times keep me sane. In the end, she started to take the pill every morning with no trouble at all.          
After she started Kindergarten, she would come home and make me little cute cards that said "I love U Mama." But I think what moved and troubled me the most was the day she told me "I love Jack." I said, "Who is Jack?" She said, "He is my boyfriend." I said, "You are too young for a boyfriend. How do you know he is your boyfriend?" She said, "Because he lets me hug him at recess." This was the cutest and scariest thing all at the same time. The future doesn't look bright for me in this area. She has a boyfriend at almost every restaurant in town. She is quite the flirt!          
We also have a dog named “Elvis.” Since my daughter is an only child, she wants Elvis to be her play mate. She puts him in her tent with his food dish and sits and talks to him just like she would to another child. It is cute and somewhat comical. It is funny because when Elvis sees her coming he runs under the bed. He would rather sleep I guess! But she doesn’t quit. She lures him out with doggie treats and then when she has him she locks him in her room with her. It is pretty funny to watch her and the dog.          
You would think that with all this energy and activity during the day that she would sleep great at night. Well, I wish that were true. One morning I went in to wake her up for school. Much to my surprise her hair was stuck to her head. It looked like she had stuck her head in oil. She had spilled her coke all in her hair some time during the night. That put an end to coke beside the bed at night. I wish it had stopped there but not my luck. One morning, I walked in her room to wake her up and saw her with makeup all over her. She had gotten into my makeup bag sometime during the night. Now remember this is a five year old. She had eye liner on her cheeks, chin, basically all over her face. Well I spent several minutes scrubbing that off. Now I am back to the incident this morning. I went to wake her up for school and was greeted by what looked like “Joker.” She had gotten into the permanent markers and made herself a red mouth just like the Joker’s. I wish that was it but it isn’t. Her hands looked like she had dipped them in paint. She had taken the markers and just wrote all over the palms of her hands. I scrubbed with everything I could think of and nothing worked. So she had to go to school today with marker all over her.          
Like I said, there are some days I wish she were grown already. But then I remember how hard adult life can be. So I am thankful for the little problems and pray for grace for the bigger problems that will come her way in the teenage years and adulthood. One day she will be a young woman and I will be replaced by friends, then boyfriends, then a husband, and then children of her own. I will look back on the good and the bad moments and consider them blessed. I have her for a fleeting little while and I will enjoy every moment the Lord gives me with her.