Let's clear something up right away.
ADHD is a legitimate neurological condition.
It's well documented.
Well researched.
Frequently misunderstood.
And it deserves to be taken seriously.
So when people reduce it to,
"Oooh...look! A squirrel!"
I usually roll my eyes.
Because ADHD is so much more than distractibility.
It's executive dysfunction.
Emotional regulation.
Working memory.
Time blindness.
Impulsivity.
Mental exhaustion.
Difficulty switching tasks.
It affects careers.
Relationships.
Finances.
Self-esteem.
It's a real thing.
A complicated thing.
An exhausting thing.
...
That being said...
SQUIRREL.
No, seriously.
There was a squirrel outside my window yesterday.
And I completely lost my train of thought.
In fairness...
He was adorable.
Actually...
He looked like he was wearing glitter pants.
Now, before you judge me...
The sunlight hit his little squirrel hiney at exactly the right angle.
It sparkled.
I stand by my original assessment.
There was glitter involved.
My husband looked.
Then looked at me.
Then looked back at the squirrel.
"That's just sunlight."
Friend...
No.
That squirrel made fashion choices.
I would also like to point out that if squirrels ever did start wearing glitter pants...
I would become the world's least productive human being.
Nothing would ever get done again.
Forget emails.
Forget laundry.
Forget taxes.
I'd be outside whispering,
"Yaaaas, Kevin! You work those sequins!"
Here's the problem with ADHD stereotypes.
They're funny...
Until they're all people believe.
If you think ADHD is just getting distracted by shiny things...
You'll completely miss the woman who's drowning in overwhelm.
You'll miss the mom who cries because she forgot another appointment.
You'll miss the business owner who spends two hours trying to start one email.
You'll miss the person who looks incredibly capable...
While silently feeling like they're failing at adulthood.
That's why reducing ADHD to squirrels isn't just inaccurate.
It's incomplete.
...
But...
If we're being completely honest...
I really do like squirrels.
A lot.
They're tiny woodland chaos goblins.
They make terrible decisions.
They forget where they buried things.
They start one project.
Then immediately sprint toward another one.
Honestly...
They're kind of my people.
And glitter?
Don't even get me started.
I love glitter.
Not craft glitter.
Craft glitter is the herpes of the craft world.
Once it enters your house...
You're finding it six Christmases later.
I'm talking about magical glitter.
Confetti.
Sparkles.
Things that catch the light.
Anything that makes the world feel just a little more whimsical.
Life is hard.
I'm in favor of unnecessary sparkle.
So yes...
It is entirely possible for two things to be true at the same time.
ADHD deserves to be understood as the complex neurological condition that it is.
And...
If a squirrel runs by carrying something shiny...
There's a very real chance I'll lose my train of thought.
Not because squirrels cause ADHD.
Because squirrels are objectively delightful.
I think that's something people often misunderstand about us.
We're not distracted because we lack intelligence.
We're distracted because our brains notice...
Everything.
The bird.
The funny sign.
The song playing in the background.
The weird-shaped cloud.
The fact that your earrings match your shoes.
The squirrel with suspiciously fashionable pants.
Our attention doesn't disappear.
It multiplies.
Sometimes in incredibly inconvenient ways.
Sometimes in wonderfully magical ones.
So no...
Please don't reduce ADHD to squirrels and glitter.
It's so much bigger than that.
It's frustrating.
It's exhausting.
It's complicated.
It's misunderstood.
It's all of those things.
But...
If you happen to see a squirrel wearing glitter pants...
You should absolutely let me know.
Immediately.
I'll bring the coffee.
You bring the binoculars.
We'll get to the bottom of this together.
Narrator:
It was still just sunlight.
Tracy remained unconvinced.
His name is Kevin.
Kevin wears glitter pants.
And somewhere in the woods another squirrel is rolling his eyes.
"Kevin has become insufferable since he discovered sequins."
