Ritalin Sticks

Please note the lovely handknitted garments worn by The Princess: black fingerless gloves and bright yellow kerchief thing. They were made not by me, but by MonkeyBoy who is a fine if erratic knitter in his own right.

My boy struggles with attention issues and has a lot of the classic ADD characteristics. He's impulsive, has to tap his feet and fiddle with things, is easily overwhelmed, and often has a hard time staying on task. As hard as it is to be around I know it's ten times harder to live it so I am always happy to see him engaged in something that allows him to be still and relaxed. Often it's reading or drawing. And, once again, it's knitting. He'll go months at a time without picking up yarn and needles but then he remembers goes on a wild knitting streak. And he's good. We should all have such even stitches.

Knitting is good for kids. It's a time tested activity in Waldorf schools--the dolls creep me out but I love that they do lots of knitting. Even more mainstream schools are finding many benefits to teaching kids knitting. At our house, I love it when MonkeyBoy settles down to knit. Sometimes he listens to books on tape, but often he's willing to engage in thoughtful discussions. He's excited when he masters a new technique. And the generosity with which he knitted the items for his sister was absolutely lovely to behold. She is so proud to wear his knitted gifts and he's clearly thrilled at seeing her wear them.