A few days ago, my husband and I were talking about our choice to put our then 7-year-old on Vyvanse for ADHD. I asked him: “Do you think someday our daughter will condemn us for our decision to give her a controlled substance like we criticize our parents for not buckling us in seatbelts when we were little?”
He didn’t think so. I had to do a little role play in my mind. Surely there were news articles about children flung from cars and killed. Wouldn’t normal rationalization skills make parents (or lawmakers) think seatbelts might help save lives? I suppose some people thought it. Legislation to require smart parenting took another two or three decades, and seatbelt (and car seat) laws have been evolving and improving ever since. Compare that to giving a minor child a drug that mimics the effects of some street drugs. Hmmmmm….can I pretend I didn’t just write that. Makes me feel slightly uncomfortable. How do we know what the long-term implications are?
I'll admit it doesn't seem like I'm putting my child in direct danger. I mean it's not as crazy out there as putting a child in a “pumpkin seat” on the front passenger seat not buckled down in any way. But I just wonder if some study will come out that makes us think we were all wrong.
I don't know why I think that, because I can attest to just how well (miraculous-like) the drug works firsthand, illogical as it seems. (Not even medical experts are sure how it works, just that it does -- amazingly!) We knew it was the right decision on Day One when Abby was picked up from a mini cheerleaders camp and told Dan her pill worked.
“How do you know that?” he asked.
“Nobody yelled at me today!” she replied. We haven’t looked back since.
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