Today is the fifth day that my boy Jake has been on Concerta for his ADD.
It's been going remarkably well so far.
Day one, his teacher sent him home with a note saying that she had used his math worksheet as an example for the rest of the class. Usually Jake's work is all over the page; this time, though, he had lined all his equations up neatly and had written them clearly. A total turnaround from his usual work.
Day two, she sent yet another note home saying that she had seen a marked difference in his behaviour, that he was able to sit with the rest of the class and follow the lesson - he used to fidget constantly and had no clue what the lesson was about when he was called upon to answer a question.
Yesterday was day four, and it was the first time I had had the opportunity to see what he was like thoughout the day. He played basketball at the playground, and didn't come home crying - in the past he's always come home in tears because he got kicked out of the game for not waiting his turn and generally being too hyper and irritating. He sat on the couch with me yesterday afternoon and watched 'I Am Sam'...and managed to watch the entire movie without losing interest. That's a huge accomplishment for Jake, the eternal fidgeter.
This morning he's working on a shoebox diorama of a rainforest. In the past he would have done it in a hurry, just thrown some stuff together and called it good...but today he drew out a plan on a sheet of paper, then set about coloring the background of his shoebox, cutting and coloring and sticking the animals and trees and plants. As I write this, he's at the table making paper 'springs' so that his critters can have a 3-D effect.
The only side effect he's complained about thus far has been a mild headache yesterday afternoon. I haven't noticed much, if any, appetite loss and he's not 'zombified'.
He's just being Jake. A more focused, less fidegty and flighty Jake.
That makes me happy.