About our Daughter

I am mother to four wonderful daughters, ages 17, 19, 21, and 23, and wife to the greatest husband on earth. God has given us a special child to raise one who was diagnosed with early-onset bipolar disorder at the age of seven, though she showed signs of it from the age of fifteen months. She also has ADHD, Sensory Integration Disorder (sensory seeking), Dyslexia, and Non-Verbal Learning Disorder-NOS, all typical comorbidities for a bipolar child. In spite of the trials, she enjoys lacrosse, running (finished her first marathon in October of 2014!), and reading and writing her own books. I will share with you the many joys and sorrows we have faced and will face in the future with the hope that you may find better understanding about this mental illness caused by both chemical and structural abnormalities in the brain. I desire that you will be encouraged by this blog if you are also dealing with a bipolar child. Thank you for reading and sharing in our journey.

How Did You Know She Was Bipolar So Young?

I wrote a long explanation of how we came to this bipolar diagnosis in a child so young under my post of March 19th of 2009. If your child or a child you know bears similarities, please seek out a good psychiatrist and don't wait for "things to get better." Often they will simply get worse, and the longer a child is unmedicated, the more damage their brain can accrue. Early diagnoses and treatment are key to providing these children with a chance at a successful life later as a teen and an adult.
Never change, start or stop a medication without the approval of your child's physician!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Off Topic: Where Have All the Gentlemen Gone?

I love helping my oldest daughter pick out fancy dresses, plan her accessories, and fuss over her hair, nails, and makeup for homecoming, prom, etc. We are both girlie-girls. She has been planning for weeks on going to the prom with a senior guy who is just a friend, she insists. I believe her. She thinks having a boyfriend in high school is stupid, after seeing all the drama her friends go through. Well, last night she called me in tears because he was mad that she couldn't stay out until 2:00 am, hanging out with some other couples at a friends house. We don't see the point in hanging out in couples at some guys house after prom. Sounds like trouble to us. My husband knows how guys think about prom, and he is right. I remember too. She was basically being given an ultimatum: stay out with me until 2 or we don't go to prom. The jerk! Whatever happened to being a gentleman and respecting a girl's curfew? I wanted to punch the guy. No one treats my daughter like that! Well, she said no and he said fine I am not taking you. I applaud her conviction and stance. But I was so upset by the insensitivity this guy showed toward my precious daughter! We already spent $200 on the dress and another $100 to get it altered! She says she may go single to the prom, or with another friend, hopefully one who respects her more. The dress can be used next year, if not. She is sick of high school, and frankly so am I! The immaturity is amazing sometimes! She is worth so much more. Watch out for mama bear, boys!!

9 comments:

Fighting for my Children said...

What a jerk! Kudos to your daughter for saying no. Obviously he doesnt respect her or you and expected her to disobey your rules.

Jennifer said...

Here is an off topic comment.

I thought about you this morning. I was on the news about a lacross player who was killed by her boyfriend and I started to get all nervous because I know your daughter plays lacross. But I remembered that your daughter is in high school, not college so I was okay after that.

Any way, just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you.

tolkienfan said...

Kudos to you and your husband, Megan, and to your daughter for her maturity and strength of character in standing her ground. Not an easy thing to do, especially after all the preparations and anticipation. You must be very proud of her.

Lori in MN

domandkat said...

I think I told you I went stag to my senior prom.

Personally, I think she should either go stag OR have your hubby go as a chaperone, but dance so awesomely with his oldest daughter that the two of them put ALL THE OTHER DANCERS TO SHAME!!!!!!!

Play that father/daughter relationship to the max and show those pimple faced dopes what a wonderful treasure she is and how dare ANY of them make her choose between AWESOME DAD and totally unawesome them!

From one mama bear to another!

Megan said...

Amen, sisters! Thanks for the encouragement!

Megan said...

Yes, the lacrosse player's murder is just awful. We live in VA and I am kind of shielding Caroline from that news.

Anna said...

The jerk did her a favor by revealing his true colors before they got to be anything but friends. I know from teaching school that it is very common for groups of friends to go to the prom together. They really think nothing of it. She should go with her friends and be the bell of the ball. My youngest was very popular but would not have thought of missing a prom when she did not have a boyfriend. She attended with a boyfriend, with several girlfriends and in a mixed group.

Anonymous said...

What a huge jerk. She will have a blast without him no doubt should she choose to go by herself.

Bar L. said...

I'm extremely impressed with your daughter for choosing not to go with this guy, for recognizing she deserves respect and for possibly going to prom anyhow just to have fun. Its very sad for me to watch how many of the girls my son knows act around boys...I think they could learn some lessons from your daughter. Good job to you and your husband.