You're a good mother. You got him thoroughly tested. Do all
   mothers do that? You are able, ready, willing, and are going to
   stand at his defense at the drop of a feather. Do all mothers do
   that?

   Past regrets: You worked with the information you had at the
   time. You did not have all the data. Forgive yourself. Easy for
   me to say, but listen...

   Going by all the stories I've read here on Facebook through the
   years, LONG BEFORE you knew he was ADHD, he seems like a
   wonderful kid.

   So: "The Mother Who Didn't Know Her Son Was ADHD" has been
   raising a marvelous kid who is turning out great.

   This was a mistake?
   No. It wasn't a mistake.

   GRIT is an important quality for all people to get in their
   lives. You don't know what you're capable of until challenged.
   There's no way for you to know the benefits you provided by NOT
   knowing he was ADHD for this time.

   Fortitude. Strength. Self-knowledge. How does a person learn
   their limits? By being challenged. None of us are limitless. Not
   you, not Joey, nobody. How would he know his limits if you
   didn't give the gift of challenging him? Now you know. He knows.

   "But what if you knew before? Could you have done better?"

   There's no way to know that. Perhaps knowing earlier might have
   been worse. Perhaps you might have coddled him more, challenged
   him less. Given him lower bars to try to reach precisely at the
   times he needed them to be high.

   Motherhood: You're doing it right.