I Can’t Wait To Give My Child A Label

I can’t wait to label my child.

I realize what an inflammatory statement that is, but it is categorically, without hesitation, true. If I’m being honest, he has quite a few labels already: Cute, smart, stubborn, unique, high needs, emotional, creative—the list goes on. But I’m looking for a clinical label. I know what he is like, I want to know why. And more importantly, I want others to know as well.

When my oldest son was younger, he didn’t have a clinical label, but he wore a permanent “Hello My Name is ______” sticker filled with adjectives. Handful. Hyper. Quick to Temper. Troublemaker. Distracted. Distracting. The way people viewed him and his behaviour could fill a book. It hurt his self-esteem. It hurt mine. He wondered if it was his fault he was always in trouble, or never finished his work. He worried he wasn’t as good as the other kids. He felt weird amongst his peers.

We wondered if we were doing something wrong in the way we were raising him. Were we bad parents? We knew he was a good kid, deep down, under all that noise, so was it our fault he was causing so much trouble at school?