An intro to O.D.D.

No, I am not an odd parent. I am an O.D.D. Parent. Totally different things..... Maybe.

to get started I will introduce you to ODD.
Oppositional Defiant Disorder:

In children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), there is an ongoing pattern of uncooperative, defiant, and hostile behavior toward authority figures that seriously interferes with the youngster's day to day functioning: Symptoms of ODD may include
• Frequent temper tantrums
•Excessive arguing with adults
•Active defiance and refusal to comply with adult requests and rules
•Delibrate attempts to annoy or upset people
•Often being touchy or easily annoyed by others
•Frequent anger and resentment
•Mean and hateful talking when upset
•Spiteful attitude and revenge seeking
(aacap.org)

So picture an unreasonable toddler in the middle of the "terrible twos", who won't listen to reason or respond to authority. Only my ODDer is 5 and we've been dealing with this for 3 years and nothing has changed.

This is our life.

My reason for starting this blog is for that all too familiar goal of awareness.

In our society we are aware of many things. Breast Cancer, Autism, ADHD, Diabetes.
I never understood why groups of people pushed for awareness until recently.

See, as my daughter throws a temper tantrum in public I feel people staring at us, and thinking "what an awful child. She just needs a good spanking". Admit it. You've thought the same thing while watching a kid carry on in the middle of the grocery aisle.

But here's the thing. We've used every typical punishment tactic known to man. Time outs, taking toys away, rewards, sticker charts, bribery, behavior therapy. And the list goes on. (Although we've stopped short of prescribed medication).

No one understands why my child behaves the way she does. And sometimes when I feel those staring eyes on me I just want to shout, "she has ODD!". But that won't mean anything to anyone because the general public has no awareness of this disorder.
Until now.