Interesting thoughts on the perfectionism. I think with my daughter, it may be a combination of factors. As I said, we are working on it.
As for her energy...she has never needed much sleep. She will wake up some mornings at 4 am, and be on the go from morning until I force her to go to bed at 9 pm. She gets up, and if she does not have to be some place immediately, will start working on some "project". She is creative. She likes to make things, do art projects, etc. I am not a morning person. So, I will be sitting, drinking my coffee with one eye open, while she is making one of her creations, talking a mile a minute to me about the revolutions in the middle east, the environment, or whatever else is currently on her mind. That is a typical morning.
She has a lot of mental energy and physical energy. She is athletic, and creative, and I have to keep her involved in a lot of activities at all times. I insist that she always be involved in at least one sport, and some other type of creative pursuit. This summer she has been going to the Y to work out with me every day. She played outside with her friends for three hours, after going grocery shopping with me, and now she is inside doing art projects, talking my ears off again.
But, she can sit still, read a book, watch a movie, play a game, do puzzles, etc. She has great attention most of the time.There are times I KNOW she is not attending to what I am saying, and I have to bring her attention to me, to get her to focus on what I am saying. She is never, ever disruptive in school or elsewhere. When she comes home from school, she immediately does her homework without an issue.
I volunteer in the classroom at least once/week, and I see the kids who cannot sit still. My daughter is definitely not one of them. I have watched her, and the only time I can really see her not paying attention is when things are moving slowly, or if someone near her is being very distracting, acting out, etc.
But, I know ADHD can be very subtle in girls, so I know anything is possible.
Thank you so much for taking the time to give me such thoughtful replies, Grinity. It is really helpful. As you can tell, I am feeling a little overwhelmed and confused at the moment
