Children’s issues

Sean’s OCD Education

by Bill Brenner July 8, 2011 Children's issues

The setting: Our living room, where Sean and Duncan are folding laundry under my supervision. I’m nagging at the kids to get the job done. No getting distracted, I tell them. No complaining. Just get the chore done. Sean: “Dad, is this your OCD acting up?” Me: “What do you mean?” Sean: “You insisting that we get this done right now. Are you having an OCD moment?” Me: “No. If I were having an OCD…  [Read More]

Screwing Your Kids In The Divorce, Part 3

by Bill Brenner June 27, 2011 Children's issues

This is one of those things that is technically none of my business. But when I see a beautiful little girl suffering the consequences of someone else’s stupidity, it’s hard to stand there and say nothing. Mood music: There’s a guy I know who is staring divorce in the face. This is a message for him. When a marriage falls apart it’s never a one-way street. Husband and wife are both guilty of falling short…  [Read More]

Shove That Golf Club Where The Sun Don’t Shine

by Bill Brenner June 17, 2011 Children's issues

I’m in a self-righteous lather after reading a column on CNN from Jeff Pearlman, a columnist for SI.com called “A Father’s Day Wish: Dad’s, Wake The Hell Up.” Jeff is a stay-at-home dad who has heard the stories from moms in his community about how their husbands would never change a diaper or wake their children up for school or clean up their puke. Mood music: An excerpt: The woman started crying. I didn’t expect this,…  [Read More]

A Letter to Addie, a Child Fighting OCD

by Bill Brenner June 7, 2011 Children's issues

This is an open letter to a girl named Addie. She is fighting OCD and the anxiety that goes with it, and her mom has been blogging about it. I suggest you read her blog. Meantime, I want to share some experiences with Addie… Mood music: Hi, Addie, My name’s Bill, and I know a thing or two about what you are going through. It’s gonna be rough at times, but let me tell you…  [Read More]

Back Story Of THE OCD DIARIES

by Bill Brenner May 14, 2011 Addiction

Since I’ve been adding new readers along the way, I always get questions about why I started this thing. I recently expanded the “about” section, and that’s a good starting point. But more of a back story is in order. Mood music: Before I started THE OCD DIARIES in December 2009 with a post about depression hitting me during the holidays, I had always toyed with the idea of doing this. The reason for wanting…  [Read More]

Giving In To Kids In Pain

by Bill Brenner May 13, 2011 Children's issues

Sean came home yesterday with some new headgear from the orthodontist. It’s painful for him because its new and his mouth is still adjusting to it. He has to wear it 14 hours a day to realign some teeth that sprouted in the wrong spots. Last night he complained that it was painful. We gave him some Tylenol and he went to sleep. But Erin and I felt awful. A parent never wants to see…  [Read More]

More Kid Wisdom

by Bill Brenner May 1, 2011 Children's issues

Children continue to simplify life’s complexities for me, and this time I have video to prove it. But let’s start with a little history, courtesy of my younger son: The story of Duncan’s birth goes something like this: Erin’s water broke in the car as I sped over the train tracks on Rosemont Street in Haverhill. Once at the hospital, as Erin was propping herself up to get out of the car, I accidentally slammed…  [Read More]

Sean and Duncan Get A Lesson From The One-Armed Drummer

by Bill Brenner April 30, 2011 Children's issues

It started with Sean and Duncan doing what they usually do in the car — taunting each other. Sean told Duncan he has ADHD. Duncan didn’t like that. Mood music: The fact of the matter is that we don’t know what Duncan has yet. He’s too young for an accurate diagnosis. Like everyone else, he has his challenges to overcome, and we’re working with him on it. Clearly, one of my weekend tasks is to…  [Read More]

OCD and ADHD Linked? Maybe

by Bill Brenner April 29, 2011 Children's issues

I recently wrote about our challenges with Duncan and how I often curse myself for a lack of patience with him, given my own history with OCD. This morning I came across a column from  Dr. Keith Ablow that might explain a lot. Mood music (Still some coding weirdness with the video embedding, but the music works): <object width=”640″ height=”510″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/MDiF3POJdyU?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0″></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param>[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDiF3POJdyU&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]</object> Let’s start with a few paragraphs from Ablow’s column:…  [Read More]

Over-scheduled Kids: It’s Not The Activity, It’s The Parents

by Bill Brenner April 28, 2011 Children's issues

I was talking to a co-worker yesterday about all the activities our kids are involved in these days. Boy Scouts. Sports. Martial Arts. Are we over-scheduling our kids these days? We couldn’t help but wonder. Mood music (Pardon the coding gibberish around the video. There’s a glitch I haven’t figured out yet, but the music plays just fine): <object width=”640″ height=”510″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/jyb8pMsyPFw?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0″></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param>[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyb8pMsyPFw&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]</object> As a kid, I resisted activities like…  [Read More]

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