Ok, I’ll admit I haven’t seen any of the Austin Powers movies. However, I know the evil guy has a little tiny evil guy who looks and acts just like him. Today I discovered that Anna is my mini-me.

We met with the psychiatrist at her home office. She was very nice, very observant, and for most of an hour she asked us some very routine sounding questions about our current situation, about our family history, and about Anna’s behavior. As we were talking to her, we realized that much of Anna’s behavior has been greatly improved in the last four to six months, yet there were still episodes that had us concerned enough to seek help. Anna even backed us up by demonstrating her low frustration threshold right there in the office as she played with blocks, and by ignoring our calls to order.

Near the end of the hour, the doctor gave us her diagnosis. Anna’s behavior is normal, she is very smart, and she will probably eventually be diagnosed with some form of ADHD. She then explained certain behaviors in this context. It took us a long time to get to the point that she actually tells us that she’s sleepy or hungry, and this is because she is so focused on what she is doing that she doesn’t pay attention to what’s going on in her body until it’s too late and she becomes very cranky. She has problems paying attention because of this focus. We’re frustrated that despite her tremendous verbal skills, she won’t follow instructions because she is so easily distracted. Further, I had the same things going on as a child, and it seems to run in my family. It’s so simple and yet I missed it entirely. I was also very smart, verbal, focused, and yet easily distracted. Actually, I’m still like tha–hey, look, something shiny!

For most of the time I was counting the three dollars per minute flying out of my wallet, but at the end I realized, that yes indeed, the good doctor does earn her money deservedly. This little epiphany gives us some validation, some perspective, and some direction for our little dynamo.