Queen of the Distracted

Imagine life in a house with 6 kids - now imagine if 5 of those kids and their father have ADD/ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) - that is our house! Welcome to an inside view of my life and our home dominated by ADHD... THERE IS NEVER A DULL MOMENT!

Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls!

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls!"

Those were our oldest daughter Rachel's first words, from the time she was a toddler she would belt them out proudly standing on the arm of the couch. At the time we had no idea what ADHD was or that it would play such a central roll in our lives.

Since then we have learned a lot, not the least of which is how many individuals and families suffer in silence. We have experienced first hand how misunderstood and misrepresented a disorder can be.

As a family we decided to take action - to risk embarrassment and labeling to get this important message out to the world. Come join our family, share in our lives, and see ADD/ADHD as we see it...
A gift with a heavy price tag.

WELCOME to life in the ADD/ADHD House!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The Great Composer Strikes Again

Mariah - the source of inspiration for the 'Oh yes she did just say that" has always had a terrible time communicating - you wouldn't know that now so much but she did. In fact, I am sure that some of her extreme humor and quick wit is to deflect what she really has a hard time expressing. When she was smaller she really could not communicate at all and she was a tightly wound ball of extreme stress. At 7 her grandfather introduced her to the flute to give her an outlet for her stress - something else to occupy her mind.

 
 She found in that moment an
instant ability and passion for music. 

It was not long and she was tugging at my shirt playing something she had created followed by, 'and the french horn will play this and that will play this.' Now before you think I am raising a total Bach or Mozart let me tell you that while she does compose incredible music she also has a little weird Al in her so you never know when she calls you in to hear something whether it is going to be a Bach moment or her personal rendition of Weird Al's Albuquerque.


Yesterday (while I was begging her to clean clean clean) she was coming up with new lyrics for Hey Diddle Diddle for our two Australian Shepards. So from the composer of The Attack of the Corn Martians and Me and My Llama we have a new and improved Hey Diddle Diddle now being sung by all...ALL...over and over and over again (I would say there goes what's left of my sanity but you know - long time ago!)

Hey diddle diddle Sid's not very little she weighs almost 70 pounds
she jumps on my lap and licks me on the face
and I beg her to get on the ground

Hey diddle diddle watch Pepper piddle anywhere he wants to go
he thinks he's the boss just cause he's a man
but he's just a baby you know


If you want to hear a more serious song she composed Mariah and her sister, Rachel, formed a band together called The Bliss Method and on their website is one of the songs they have recorded. Rachel is the vocalist and Mariah wrote the lyrics and composed the music. The website is blissmethod.com and the song is Border Patrol under music.

As a side note it is music that over the years has allowed her to cope with her stress. It is music and performing in front of people (squarely behind the music stand at first) that gave her the confidence to actually speak in front of people. It is music through which she often speaks her mind first and finds the words to express herself. Everyone has a music - the trick is finding it and using it. For Rachel it is art. I often say that Mariah breathes music like Rachel breathes art.



6 comments:

Unknown said...

that quote sounds about right for Miss Mariah:)
Gotta love it! annnd I am totally digging the song, tell her to compose one for lucy next.

Shane said...

My problem is I have too many musics. I have too many creative outlets and they're all expensive. I need a cheap creative outlet! And ONLY ONE! :P

Bean said...

Well good luck with that. Let me know win you solve that one... the problem is, with our brains wired the way they are we can do so much and so many different things appeal to us... the key there is to pick a couple and perfect them. I am trying to pick things related and when I get bored with one I role to another, but the whole is still moving in the same direction... does that make sense?

Lisa Aro said...

Well, if it makes you feel better so do the kids. IE Mariah composes and writes lyrics, draws, acts, I would say that she has a regular gig as a stand up comic at the dinner table, and an unusual passion for languages. But music has taught her the most and helped her conquer the most - it has given her a voice and the confidence to use it (though sometimes I wish she would 'filter' a little better) and helped her find peace when the world just wasn't right.

Unknown said...

What an awesome song! I loved it! Would like to download for my daughter who also loves to sing!

Bean said...

Which song... the one the girls did with their band The Bliss Method, song- The Border Patrol or the less famous but equally as entertaining... the Hey Diddle Diddle Reprise?

I (Dad) have been out of town for about a week so I just heard them sing that one last night and it was hillarious... My wife is getting a little tired of it though... I told them to record it and upload it... won't make the top 10, but it is good for a laugh.