We have come to know that parents who are involved in their children's education, play a huge role in their child's success at school and throughout their child's lifetime of successes. If you receive a request or a recommendation that your child might benefit from an ADHD assessment, this can be treated like any other recommendation - ask a lot of questions until you are satisfied that this path suits your child. Keep in mind that although there are still mistakes or abuses in the labeling of ADHD kids, the more important problem is under-diagnosing. A child with undiagnosed ADHD faces a lifetime of challenges that can be mitigated by their parents early intervention. For the latest research, go to www.chadd.org, Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. The CHADD site is a superior resource for parents and children with ADHD. In addition to CHADD, the National Association of Professional Organizers' (NAPO) New York chapter is hosting Sari Solden, who is an ADD psychotherapist and a pioneer on ADD and women. Join Sari Solden on November 7th as she presents "Understanding the Secret World of Women with AD/HD. For more information visit NAPO-NY's site at www.napo-ny.net.

Holiday Giving

I can not believe that it is almost the end of October? Where the heck did the time go? It will be Halloween in a few days and then we’ll start thinking about Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year’s and so forth. It’s all coming at us so very fast and furious. The recession may have changed the way we will be buying this holiday season.

There are many people that don’t have jobs right now and they may be our friends, our neighbors or former colleagues. Those that do have jobs , many of them have had to take pay cuts to keep their jobs. You can bet there are changes that we are all making in our personal lives that will impact how we celebrate the upcoming holidays.

For way too long, the holidays have been about stuff–the stuff we get and the food we stuff down our throats. The upcoming holidays are supposed to be about family and friends, thanksgiving and compassion, redemption and forgiveness, new beginnings and old traditions, love and sacred beliefs. Too often, the focus shifts to finding batteries for the barrage of toys to come, wrapping paper, and shopping deals. Take a moment or two this year to think about those who are still struggling. Have your children (nieces and nephews) buy a few gifts for those children that will not have anything this holiday season. Think about giving money or food to your local food banks for those who are hungry. You can send a box to a U.S. soldier through www.AnySoldier.com for those brave men and women that will not be with their family for the holidays.

Please think about giving of yourself and/or your time and helping those who could use your help this holiday season. You will feel better for helping another less fortunate than you. Pass on that lesson to your children, who will also feel better about the simple and selfless act of giving. God bless you and your family this holiday season!

Doing It With Intent-Where are my credit cards???

Well, I have been thinking a lot about the advice I gave my client today regarding "doing things with intent." I know I have discussed intent before, but this time I just want to brush up against the idea of doing something with intent. This will definitely not be the last time I talk about intent either, so get over that!

I go to the store, buy items, get to the cash register and pull out my wallet to pay for the items I just bought. There are a couple of things that could happen here. I could get distracted, drop my wallet, everything spills out, the line gets long, I start worrying about whether I picked up all of my credit cards, money and rolling coins or worry about what all these strangers on this line think of me.

Rule #1, who cares what strangers think? I don't. Rule #2, stop, see where all my money, credit cards and coins just went and retrieve them. Solicit the help of kind strangers to help pick up the rolling coins, #Rule #3, thank everyone for their help, pay bill, leave store with all items safely tucked in wallet and complete and total dignity intact.

Who cares what strangers think, we care about what we think. What does this have to do with intent you ask? Good question. The point is knowing what is in my hand when I whip out the wallet, making sure that I do not rush myself and therefore not pick up my money, etc., not care about the good opinions of others and stop, take a breath, pay my bill, place the wallet and all contents back inside, not rushing and losing more stuff, not caring that the check-out line has to wait an extra minute or two for me to compose myself, stash the cash and happily take my purchase out with me.

Knowing what I have in my hand at all times is about intent. It's about not just moving through life without being plugged into that life. It is about living in the now, really. It's about enjoying the heck out of this NOW!!! It is also being in control of what is in my hand and taking responsibility for where that item goes next.

Good Colleagues

This entry is about my two friends and colleagues that are very special to me. They are Heidi Schulz who resides in Santa Barbara, CA., and Kristin Bergfeld, who resides in NYC. Like me, they work with folks with special needs. Also like me, they work very hard to understand and assist their clients with compassion and respect. All three of us have the opportunity to help people realize that there is hope for them when they feel hopeless.

We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with our clients that have tremendous challenges such as hoarding. We work with these truly wonderful clients to help them achieve something that they once thought was only a distant dream, long-term clutter management. You might be asking yourself how this is managed. Well, it is a long road of continual work built around our client's motivation, desire and need for change.

There are others' that play a key role in the work that we do with our clients. These key players are psychiatrists, therapists, social workers, family members and any other support person that wants to be a part of the organizing process (at our client's request). Our hoarding clients can't do the work alone. They need a collaborative team to help and support them throughout their lives, especially when working on long-term clutter management.

I respect and honor these two women for the fine work that they do. I am fortunate to have them in my life! We are cut from the same cloth and are truly digging what we do for a living! How many people can say that they are living their passion? I know that I can!!!

To find out more about the work these two women do, please check out http://www.heidischulz.com and http://www.bergfelds.com

Amazing Grace

I know this has nothing to do with nothing, but I found this video very beautiful. Once in a while, it is nice to just enjoy and really dig "beautiful." http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1785324681?bclid=1338935106&bctid=1913313052

Check it out and I hope you enjoy it too!

NSGCD Conference

I really enjoyed the five days that I spent in Los Angeles, CA. I didn't see much of the city, but had a great time in the Omni Hotel on Olive St. ) (http://www.omnihotels.com).

My great friend Heidi Schulz (http://www.heidischulz.com) and I did get to eat our 1st pre-conference dinner at a great Mexican restaurant on the Omni's property. The food was Mexican topas. It was so good that we could have stayed there eating our way into oblivion all evening, but we did have restraint and I am proud of that.

I experienced a real treat at this conference, and that was getting a chance to spend some time with my dear sweet colleague Terry Prince (http://www.terryprince.com). I hope she has a great time on her dad's 85th birthday cruise. It was a great conference.