I don't trust celebrity parents when it comes to parenting advice. Color me cynical, but I just don't think Angelina Jolie is any authority on potty-training anymore than Madonna would be on talking to your child about sex. But you know what they say about desperate times calling for desperate measures.

It's no secret that psychiatric illness is treated as a whole different animal than "physical" illness. I find myself comparing the two often, usually trying to determine the best way to cope with Bob and his behaviors. Perhaps the most prominent difference (or, in my opinion, at least the most frustrating) is the elusive nature of psychiatric diagnosis.

Comorbidity. Interesting word, isn't it? If you were new to the English language and without your dictionary, you might guess it to mean something like "dying together." And you wouldn't be altogether inaccurate.

Continued from Part 1 As you may have guessed, the large dog, startled by the remote control car fast approaching it, bolted--knocking its elderly owner off her feet and dragging her along the sidewalk before she was able to regain control of it. (The only witnesses to this were the kids, the victim, and the dog--but the victim's neighbor came to our door the next day looking for the glasses she lost in the scuffle and reported she was "pretty bruised and scraped up.")

As parents, most of us understand we are responsible for our children--for providing food, clothing and shelter, as well as making sure they are educated, receive necessary medical attention, and learn to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with social mores. But most parents are unaware they can be held responsible for criminal acts perpetrated, or damages caused, by their children, regardless of their efforts to prevent their children from committing such acts.

As much as I hate to say it, I may be taking the "BMX Mom" bumper sticker off my car this summer. Bob hasn't really expressed much interest in racing so far (I believe he's mentioned it once in the past few months), and frankly, I'm not eager to drop that kind of cash for his activities when his behavior and attitude are as lousy as they have become.

cont. from Allergies and Psychiatric Illness (part 1) Actually, I don't wonder about a possible link between inhalant (i.e., "seasonal" or "nasal") allergies and psychiatric diagnosis--I know such a link exists; there is clinical evidence to support it. What I wonder about is the mechanism of the link; how the link could be used to treat psychiatric illness in children (and adults); whether the link can explain some of Bob's difficulties.

As another (less-successful-than-last-year) school year draws to a close, my family struggles to keep it together without losing it on each other, and my firstborn seems to be moving further and further away from me, I start grasping at straws. Something, anything, for an answer somewhere. A clue. A hint. (Why I think I may be able to find The Big Answer when research teams and psychiatrists much more learned than I cannot is beyond me. Maybe because, having more at stake than they do, I might look harder.) I haven't found The Big Answer yet, but I have come across some information I believe deserves further examination--the connection between inhalent (a/k/a "seasonal" or "nasal") allergies and psychiatric illness.

Today, while working in our family room, I kept detecting the smell of cat litter (used, not new). I couldn't imagine where it might be coming from and for a moment thought I might be losing control of my own senses--that is, until I went into the neighboring bathroom to throw away a tissue and found, tucked under the sink, a plastic bag chock full of Kitty Krunchies. This would have irritated me considerably under any circumstances, but knowing less than 24 hours ago I specifically asked Bob "did you take it to the garage trash can AND put it in the trash can?" and he specifically said "YES", I was irritated considerably more.

Parents--answer this question: How many times today have I asked myself, "am I doing the right thing here?" I'm guessing most of you answered "at least once." And if your child has a psychiatric diagnosis, I'm guessing your answer was closer to "at least once every half-hour."