An ode to neurodivergent parenting

A while back I wrote a little poem about challenges and joys of parenting in a neurodivergent household. The kid/parent we might be most compatible with is often not the one we get. This how we learn and grow. We learn from a place of love and we grow it. Hope this poem of mine gives you a chuckle or opens up a place for reflection on your own experiences.

There was once an elephant leading a life

Of quiet content in a house with his wife

He thought of his life as not terribly bad

But he wanted to try and become a good dad.

He posted an order and a hefty round sum

To storks to deliver a much-wanted son.

The bundle arrived and couldn’t have been neater

But what a surprise that his son was a cheetah!

It was getting dark, and it was getting late,

The parenting starts now. It can’t possibly wait!

“I’ll feed him and bathe him. How hard can it be?”

But Cheetah was running instead of having tea.

The ravenous child commanded for supper

"Rice! Eggs! No! Make me pizza without tomato!

No, actually, pasta! But make it all bland

I AM being clear! Why don’t you understand?!"

The cheetah declared that it took all too long

And dinner was yucky, and dinner was wrong.

When elephant placed his son into a bath

He wasn’t expecting such terrible wrath!

It’s boiling daddy! I couldn’t be hotter!

So, elephant diligently poured in cold water.

You’re taking too long get me out right now!

My toesies, my paws, they are scalded red! Ow!

The toothbrush was “evil”. The brushing was “boring”

The elephant stood there, somewhat deploring.

“My kid must be tired” the elephant said

“I’ll read him some books, and I’ll put him to bed.”

The elephant dad yawned narrating bed tales

While his cheetah son seemed to have gone off rails.

“I don’t understand you. How are you not tired?

You’re so unlike me! The storks have misfired!”

The cheetah replied “it’s you! You’re the baddie!

I don’t like you either! I don’t want you daddy!”

Both father and son were exhausted and crying.

They felt like they failed despite all their trying.

The following morning, they started anew,

They asked loving questions. “What would work for you?”

“My mind said the Cheetah is quick and agile!”

“My elephant mind may take some things a while.”

“I change every minute; I run at top speed.”

“My calm and stability are guaranteed.”

“I want all things new, the newer the better!”

“While I wear my grandad’s moth-terrorised sweater.”

Then elephant paused. “Son, what do you need

To help you slowdown from that neck-breaking speed?”

The cheetah for once took some time to reflect.

“I like to design, and construct, and connect.”

“Me too!” Said the elephant. “That’s what my mind

Does too to relax, to flex up, and unwind.”

The two spend whole day building their blocks up tall

With likeness between them being there after all.

As colourful blocks towered high up above,

They built more than toy houses. They built their love.