the trials of a raising an ADHD child

About 3 months ago Owen was finally diagnosed with having ADHD! I knew in my heart ever since he was a toddler that he had it... However I could never get anywhere when i mentioned it to the Doctor or to his teachers. They would say he is just a boy! Yes he is a boy but they didn't see what i saw on a daily basis or have to deal with his behavior. It was a chore to go anywhere with him. He liked to "explore" way too much. And with him being our first we really didn't know how much was normal! Then Carter came along and he was so much more mellow.
It was a blow to have him diagnosed with this disorder but it could be worse, right? We are very thankful for being able to have him finally diagnosed and now we are learning that there is so much we were doing wrong with him... like how we were punishing him.. what we expected out of him... and how he got things accomplished! We cannot just tell Owen to go clean his room. We have to be more specific and give him one thing at a time to do, like..pick up all of your cars, then when he is finished with that then we can go to the next thing.. pick up all the clothes on the floor and put them in the hamper, and so on! It does become very frustrating as a parent to deal with. He is very hard-headed to begin with(Mom says he gets that from me)so this just seems to add to it! I love the booger just the way he is and wouldn't want him any other way! When I talked to the Doctor about my options we decided to go with medication, however I didn't want Owen to lose his spark! I just wanted him to be a tad bit more able to concentrate! So far we have been able to achieve that! He is doing so much better in school! He is able to focus and keep his natural urge of outburst under control! That is what are goal was... He doesn't really fully grasp the whole picture on this. He knows he takes medication to help and wonders at times for how long and if he will ever be able to stop. He also keeps this his secret to his friends. I guess he doesn't want them to think any less of him. He is such a caring and lovable boy. I hope he is able to keep those qualities throughout his life!!!