Lauren was in a pretty good mood to start off the day. I told her she was getting some SPARK pink lemonade. She said, " this is yum" even though it took about five minutes for her to drink the four ounces.
I cleared the glass from the table and put coloring pages on the table for the three girls, ages 5, 3, and 2. Then I put on the timer and gave them all a very small section of a piece of stride sugar free gum to chew as they colored and listened to their favorite thinking music in the background. It was time for me to set the timer for 20 minutes and I instructed them to color until the timer beeped.
Then I observed them all, while putting away dishes and taking notes.
This is what I saw:
1. The 5 and 2 year old colored slowly and steadily. Lauren stopped a few times and I encouraged her to keep coloring. I reminded them that they would be rewarded at the end of the twenty minutes with another small tidbit of gum. (this really gets Lauren's attention, better than pennies or other measures). She picks up the crayon and starts to color.
Two minutes later, she puts down the crayon and starts to suck her thumb, this lasts about two minutes. Her older sister encourages her and reminds her of the gum. She again picks up the crayon and begins to color more, this time asking me to help her. I decline, and encourage some more, then I remind her it's quiet time and she needs to do her paper by herself, and not distract her sisters. Three times in the first ten minutes she puts down her crayon and rests, as her sisters continue with their pages. the two year old finishes her page in 14 minutes and is dismissed from the table, to not be a distraction.
Lauren asks for help 4 times during this time, even though she is an excellent colorer. This is very typical of her as she has a hard time focusing. The last five minutes were more intense as she typically wants to get down and move onto something else, anything else. She finishes her page and it looks good. I reward the girls after the ten minutes and they hang up their art work on the fridge for daddy to see like they do every day.
20 minutes later, Lauren asks to do homework, this surprises me and I put her up to the table with a crayon and a blank piece of paper. This is a small hhhmmmm moment for me.
After her 3:00 nap she took for forty minutes, I gave her her second four ounce amount of Spark. then we headed off to the friends house that gave us the SPARK to try, and ate with them.
Notes:
Lauren was more pleasant today and didn't ask the same questions repeatedly. She seemed to listen more intently, and was calmer in her playtime with her sisters.
Her dad noticed that she responded differently than usual when he asked her to do something.
She finished lunch quicker than normal. It was chicken nuggets, one of her favorites, and ate her pizza for dinner without complaining about what was on it is record time. Is this a coincidence, or just because she liked the food? We shall see.
Concerns and questions: Is four ounces twice a day the correct amount. Will it affect Lauren to take it with meal or does it need to be between meals.
How much caffine is there compared to other products like candy bars verses the red bull drinks and does it really get the amino acids to the brain or just stimulate the reciever?
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