If there’s one thing that makes me rage-y about parenting in the United States, it’s navigating insurance. I just want to get my kids and me evaluated for stuff and things, but finding providers that take our insurance can be such a nightmare. The constant clicking and copy/paste-ing and switching between tabs just to verify someone takes our insurance is crazy-making.

My eyes are killing me right now and I’ve only been working on this (today) for like 30 minutes.

[As an aside, I recently had to get new glasses. Fucking bi-focals, man. And it is hella tricky getting used to them. I have headaches a LOT.]

I was diagnosed with ADHD back in 2021 (though I do have a lot of questions about the evaluation and the doctor that did it so I’m wanting to get re-evaluated soon) and pretty much ever since then, I’ve been hyper aware of whenever my kids display any sort of behavior that makes me think they might also have ADHD/autism.

I went through a grieving period (and it sometimes still comes around) when I first got diagnosed. I was 41 years old. I’d gone FORTY ONE YEARS just thinking that the struggles I was having were a) totally normal, b) due to hormonal changes from being pregnant, c) just a fact of life, or d) all of the above. I struggled SO FUCKING MUCH in school to focus and stay on task and it turns out, my brain was just a little squiffy and probably with the right therapy and/or medication, I could have been much more successful…in school, with decision making, at life.

But I’m a girl. And I was a really good kid. Generally well behaved, quiet, nice to other kids, that sort of thing. So of course it went unnoticed and therefore undiagnosed. Plus, I grew up in the 80s and 90s and mental health and neurodivergence was still pretty taboo to talk about, much less HAVE.

So yeah. I’m hypervigilant about my girls. Because they have big dreams and I want to do whatever I can or need to do to help them achieve those goals.

And battling insurance is the last thing any parent should have to be doing when it comes to caring for our kids.