“I Love You” are three little words that everyone knows about.
I’m talking about everyone far and wide – young and old!
But, we have another three-word phrase here at home: “attention to detail.”
More often than not it happens after someone’s missed something right in front of them.
I’ll have you know that in a house full of adults with varying degrees of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), something like that happens every handful of hours.
It can be as simple as misplacing one’s keys or forgetting where you left your coffee mug.
Other times it can be a big deal like accidentally leaving leftovers out all night long and ruining them or the proverbial pen in a pocket that gets run through the laundry that subsequently ruins a pair of pants or jacket.
There are also several devastating instances like forgetting to turn off the water and having it flood the yard or driving a vehicle with the gas tank on empty.
I think the most irritating part of missing the details of something is that it appears so simple once you’ve noticed it! Well, usually it’s like that.
We’re not going to factor in the truly bizarre moments where an entire box of Christmas decorations ends up in a chair hidden by a throw blanket or finding cat toys in the freezer that aren’t supposed to be there.
I’m pretty sure all these phenom
ena have something to do with short-term memory and spatial awareness.
But, I’m not a professional physician and can’t diagnose them myself.
So, we just remind each other to pay plenty of “attention to detail” so that we don’t’ have any repeats of those moments.
To be brutally honest, I probably remind mom more than anyone else because we’re together nearly all day long.
That’s not to say that I haven’t had my fair share of moments!
But those only seem to happen when something of mine has been moved or throws off my groove.
For me, if it’s something I’ll use every day like my cellphone or car keys, I have a minimum of three spots that I try to keep said items located in or around.
Once it’s out of those spots, it completely derails my processing and I have to take time out to figure out what happened.
Even if mom tells me she’s moving something, if I don’t move it back or put it in another recall spot, I’m lost when I need it.
And, boy, does that test my patience!
Sometimes we even get into little arguments since she prefers a minimalist approach to things and I would rather have stuff at hand and in clear view even in a cluttered area.
Or, at least in the space I always look for it! Like all families, we work through the moment and get back to whatever task at hand. Plus, sometimes the incidents end up being hilarious rather than aggravating, so we can have a good laugh.
Especially the harmless and quirky ones! If it’s especially hilarious, I make sure to tell my siblings about said incident so that I can share the entertainment.
Overall I’ve noticed some improvement when we communicate about what to pay attention to in certain instances rather than just having to handle them after the fact.
