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Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Works-For-Me-Wednesday


Today's WFMW is somewhat about myself, and my son. When I was a child, I was diagnosed with ADD (they hadn't come up with ADHD, but that probably would have been closer to what I really was dealing with). After many years of medication, with regular increases in dosage and little result, my mother turned to the Feingold Diet, discovering that my real issue was allergies to preservatives, colors, and basically anything that really had no business being in good food to begin with. She immediately forbade me to eat any of the things I had grown to love, and noticed a drastic improvement in my behavior. The only thing that she did wrong, was to cut me off completely. I essentially went into withdrawl for the things that I liked to eat, especially candy. Because of that, I rebelled and ate candy whenever I could. Unfortunately, she could tell just by the sound of my voice if I'd had candy during the day, and would find me out almost immediately.

Now, I am noticing some of the same things in my son. While I'm not sure he has the major issues that I did as a child, I know for sure that his bad behavior trigger is chocolate. If he gets chocolate, he's nearly certifiable. He's aggressive, can't listen or sit still, and it's very difficult to get him to focus. He's already had trouble with taking chocolate and candy without asking, so I know he has the same desire for the things he shouldn't have that I did.

For him, I came up with this idea. I remembered how difficult it was for me to give up those things that I couldn't eat, so for my son I decided that he could have chocolate one day a week. He could have chocolate one day a week, close to bedtime (so it wouldn't affect his behavior too much). I allowed him to pick the day that he could have chocolate so that he felt like he was involved. I explained why it was so important for him to not have chocolate at any other time, and hopefully his seven year old mind can understand it. This is our first week, and tomorrow is his first Chocolate Day. I will post next week about how this process is going.

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3 comments:

Cherish the Home said...

What a great idea, so creative!

Thanks for your comment on my WFMW post at Happy Tails, it made me LOL. (o:

Blessings,
~Mrs.B

Emily said...

i can't eat chocolate b/c it is a migraine trigger for me; i just thought it might be worth considering something i have found helpful.

white chocolate isn't really chocolate, so if it is the cocoa triggering the problems (as it is for me), he can enjoy treats made w/white chocolate instead of milk or dark. several candy bars are now making their candy bars with optional white chocolate.

just a thought; it might not even be applicable. :)

Shana said...

That's not a bad idea. I don't know if he'd like white chocolate though. I never could get a taste for it (except for those Alpine bars, which were discontinued years ago). I will give it a try though.

Today is his chosen chocolate day, but he's supposed to spend the night with a friend. I'm debating how to handle it now, because I don't want to send him off in a chocolate induced mood, but I don't want to tell him he can't have chocolate on his chosen day either. I have to give it some more thought.