A coke and a smile? That ad spoke words of wisdom.

Many people have suggested I give Bean caffeine. "It can have the opposite effect on children with ADHD," they all said. I wasn't ever willing to take that risk, though. I was pretty sure I would never survive a day with Bean should it NOT have the opposite effect. I blew off the advice, until this weekend.

I rarely have soft drinks at the house, but we had a leftover bottle of coke from a party. The Dad and I debated back and forth the better part of Saturday morning, before finally deciding to go for it.

We imagined it would go something like this.

Instead, within minutes Bean had stopped her usual baby talk, flapping around, and throwing herself on the floor at the word "no".

Was it a coincidence? Could it have really worked? Have I been paying for medication, when I could have been buying cans of coke?

After observing her all day Saturday, we declared Saturday to be the best day EVER. On Sunday, I got a little more courageous. Coke and NO ADHD medication. I was sure Sunday would be the day the world fell apart and the sky caved in. Instead, Sunday was possibly better than Saturday.

Bean carried on conversations. She did not once overreact. The constant bickering with Monkey? Never happened. Not once did she run circles through the house or flap around uncontrollably. She looked like Bean. She sounded like Bean. But she acted like the Bean we knew four years ago.

We knew the true test would be a school morning, though. For breakfast Bean had her usual organic cereal with organic milk. Although, today it was served with a glass of coke.

It was magical. With sparkle and glitter. And possibly even rainbows. And angels singing. Bean was dressed and ready to go in less than fifteen minutes with NO argument.

Even if she was wearing an Easter dress with snow boots.

Moral of the story? Coke is my favorite. I love Coke. Coke is our friend. Coke makes life better. And shiny.