A delicious mess to clean up

Why are ADHD kids messy? That's like asking why the sky is blue. OK, maybe not. I'm not entirely sure why the sky is blue actually. 

Let's put it this way instead -- it's like the elephant in the room question. And literally, an elephant could be hiding in their room. Who knows! In one week, you might lose track of where the bed went. 

For those of you who aren't blessed with a child with ADHD. Here's just a few reasons you feel like you're on the verge of living in an episode of Hoarders:

They're forgetful. As in, they go in to clean their room, but moments after walking in the door they have no idea what they supposed to do so they sit down to play in the pile of Legos closest to the door. They're disengaged with the cleaning process -- entirely!

Also, they're distracted. See example above, especially the reference to Legos. And who wouldn't be distracted by...oh, look at that -- glitter glue. Oh I could make a glitter mail box right now for all my Valentines. Valentine's Day is coming up. Last year grandma gave me a card with a dog. I love dogs. I think I'll draw a picture of a dog. Oh, look, glitter glue! 

What was I saying again? Yes, children with ADHD can't follow directions the same way other children can either. I might say to my children: "Abby and Ryker, go brush your teeth, brush your hair, put your shoes on and meet me by the back door." Or, "Go pick up all the books on the floor, put them on the shelf, then pick up all your dirty clothes and put them in the hamper."

In two minutes and 38 seconds, Ryker would be have completed his assignments in either example. I would likely find Abby standing with her toothbrush (toothpaste in a slow drip toward the sink) in hand, staring at her reflection in the mirror, or sitting cross-legged on the floor with a book open. She definitely can't get from A to E. It's better just to get A done and then move on to B. If you get to E that week, it's definitely a good week! Some days, just getting through A means I stand behind her at the bathroom sink, her with toothbrush in hand and ask about a half dozen times if she would PLEASE brush her teeth. 

I hope this makes it easy to see why kids with ADHD might have messy rooms, school desks and backpacks. For the record, they also are good at making the floorboards in the back seat of your vehicle disappear under a mound of stuff in about oh, two days. 

I'm not sure, exactly, how the mess carries over into other things, however, such as icing a cake. But I do know this, Abby is a creative genius who makes very beautiful things, but not without leaving a trail of clutter -- or icing -- in her wake. She does this with painting, cooking, playing with dolls, building with Legos and even getting herself dressed. It's exhausting!

For Ryker's baptism, she helped her grandma make an angel food cake. We all left her alone in the kitchen for what should have been 10 minutes but what turned into 20 minutes for icing it. 

Here's how it turned out: 

Ta-da! Oh, I got a little on the cabinet.

Grandma notices some on my shirt. 

Oh, and here's some more, too. And there's some back there on the other cabinet, too. 

No problem, I'll just lick it off!

And here's the finish product. Frankly, this is beautiful for a 9-year-old with ADHD who's icing an angel food cake for the first time -- they're tough to handle! Mom wouldn't have done much better or made less of a mess. In fact, mom might just be a touch ADD herself. I'd rather have the H, just the H. Then I'd probably at least burn a few more calories in a day.