I Wish My Mother Had Known

Magical Mama Lucy shared this poem from a book about girls with ADHD.  She wrote:

I know there are a lot of other books out there on ADHD but this book, Understanding Girls with ADHD is groundbreaking.  The book’s author deals specifically with girls who present symptoms much different than boys withADhD. 

I Wish My Mother Had Known
by Mary H.

I wish my mother had known
that I was actually very smart.
I wish my mother had known
that I needed more attention.
 
I wish my mother had known
that I went to school every day as a little girl,
in fear and dread
at the prospect of being shamed
and humiliated in class.
 
I wish my mother had known
that my low self-esteem and
lack of physical affection at home
would lead to rampant promiscuity.
 
I wish my mother had known
that someday I would have to
compete in the world,
and that being married
was not going to make me safe.
 
I wish my mother had known how desperately
I needed stimulation and attainable challenges.
(Expectations for me were very low,
so even I was surprised when I realized
that I love a challenge!)
 
I wish my mother had known
that my artistic and creative skills
were important, 
and could have sustained me,
had I been encouraged to develop them.
 
I wish my mother had known
that I could not organize my room.
 
I wish my mother had known
that I had a huge curiosity about life,
but that I could not absorb it
in the context of public school.
 
I wish my mother had known
that I was too sensitive and shy and embarrassed
to have my needs met.
 
I wish my mother had known
that I could not easily either fall asleep or wake up,
and that I had no control over that.
 
I wish my mother had known that being put
into the dumb classes,
in spite of my consistently high IQ tests,
was humiliating,
and caused me to not even bother to try.
 
I wish my mother had known
that having only one friend
was not normal and might have signaled other problems.
 
I wish my mother had known
that leaving the house unzipped, buttoned wrong,
or without my lunch or books, was a signal.
 
I wish my mother had known
what we know now.
She didn’t.  She did her best,
and I hope that she knows
how very much I love her.

What a touching poem!  For more information about girls and ADHD, see this article.