So, I've had a few questions since this morning asking for me to detail how we got to the point that we saw that milk might be the culprit in our boys' behavior. Well...
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... No, that's the wrong movie.
Once upon a time... Wrong book.
Hmm, let's see. Our life with our beautiful boys started in 2002 with the birth of our oldest son, Gabriel. He was absolutely adorable; bubbly and full of life. We started noticing at about the age of 3 that he was what a therapist would later refer to as "intractible," or incapable of accepting and dealing with changing conditions. He had a temper on him that would simply show up in situations that didn't really warrant anger, and he would lash out at family and friends for no reason. He was never a horrible child. On the contrary, he has always been a joy to be around and is a precocious, inquisitive young man, with artistic skills that are out of this world. But, things were never "normal." they were always a bit off-kilter, and we have had concerns for a long time that we were doing something terribly, terribly wrong.
His brother, Benton, came along in 2005, another perfect baby. Happy, precious and fun to be with. He has grown into the kind of child that can wrap you around his little finger until you pop and charm the socks off a rack of clothing at the store. But, shortly after his third birthday, he started in on what my mother coined the "wild-man syndrome." He would talk incessantly, simply babbling about absolutely nothing simply for the sake of babbling. He'd complain about how hard things were for him to accomplish or finish, even though his intellect is off the charts. He'd tell us how he couldn't read and then turn around and read a four syllable word on his own accord. He'd swing his right arm like a propeller, threatening to take off through the Sanctuary of our church or wherever he might have been. He'd go to bed, only to pop up again and again, like one of those horrible dolls that adults don't like, that look like a clown and simply (punch) won't (punch) stay (punch) on the (puncture, ssssssssssssssssssss-sss-s-s-ss-) ground.
We noticed as time went on that both the boys continued to show symptoms of ADHD in addition to some emotional "issues" that didn't quite add up. We didn't have a family history that would lead to those kinds of issues, and sometimes we would have problems, and other times they would be perfect angels. My wonderful wife and I continually bashed our heads against the wall, trying to figure out what the issue was.
Within the last two months, though, we had finally come to the end of our rope. We couldn't go to church without having other people stare at us. We were afraid to take our children to dinner because we never knew whether we were going to get Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. It was awful. While discussing the possibilities of what the problem COULD be, I had two people (my mother and one other person) suggest that the problem could be a food allergy. I myself am allergic to red dye, but we don't have a history of milk allergies in our family. How could that be it?
Then, one day, a new friend of mine, a co-worker, Kenneth (a very gifted musician), told me about his son, Quinn, who had exhibited symptoms of ADHD and let me know about how his band-mates had gone through an intervention with him. He simply made the suggestion that milk might be the culprit in our case as well. Well, God hit me on the head with a 2x4 at that moment, reminding me of the two other times that I had been told it could be food. This time, I decided to listen, instead of simply saying, "it's a possibility."
After hearing that, we went to my mother's house, where she had some soy milk. We tried it, kept them off of milk products for the day and waited to see what would happen.
Well, less than two weeks later, our world is very different. Gabriel doesn't get angry for no reason, he can concentrate better, his grades are going up and he has had an E in conduct since we removed milk.
Benton has responded by actually being able to sit through a meal in his chair, whereas before, he'd get up and wander, or run, or worse, bother other people in a restaurant, telling us, "I have to listen to my body." We haven't heard that statement once since we removed milk. We don't have to get on to him about not sitting down during meals, he offers to help around the house or EVEN (dare I say it out loud) simply starts helping for no reason.
It's been a miracle in our house. It could be in your house, too. Just for a moment, I'd like to talk to all the parents out there whose children have ADD, ADHD or are exhibiting symptoms of those. Before you investigate drugs for your kids, investigate their foods first. It's a much cheaper fix, allows their brains to develop more normally, and can provide you with some wonderful skills for parenting and helping your children grow naturally.
Milk... sometimes it DOESN'T do a body good.
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