When I worked in the After School Program in Fort Worth several years ago a new kid arrived who behaved very badly. His excuse was that he couldn’t help it, and that he was taking medicine for it. I quickly informed him that his behavior was his choice and no medicine could change it. He continued to pester other kids, be mean and annoying for another day or so, until he realized I wasn’t about to treat him any different than any other kid. So, he started behaving. By the beginning of the second week he was one of my best kids. He’d never been told that he could control his behavior, so he never tried.

As CAH parent we are all aware of the real emotional impact CAH has on kids, but I know that I’m not alone in realizing that we can effectively teach our children to overcome the mood swings and quick onsets of anger by their own will. They can choose to behave. I expect it of my kids, and they know I do. They aren’t always angels, most of the time they’re not. But that’s the way kids are. They are the rough clay a healthy, productive adult is molded from. There are soft spots and hard spot, but with consistent work the clay will take shape and the individuality of the original material becomes a valued part of the finished product. Learning to control and channel their energy is how that raw materials becomes a dynamic part of the world they live in. You should read of the antics historic greats like Abraham Lincoln, John Rockefeller, Teddy Roosevelt and untold others got into as children. It was that energy that fueled their success, but only after they’d learned to control it.