is a student at Sage Creek High School. He lives in Carlsbad. On this Mother’s Day in 2021, I want to thank my mom for her understanding, patience, and support. I hope others can learn from her, especially parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other learning disabilities. I was born different, but nobody knew. How different? Let me give you examples. We provide this platform for community commentary free of charge. Thank you to all the Union-Tribune subscribers whose support makes our journalism possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider becoming one today. Advertisement I struggled with directions. At my kindergarten parent-teacher conference in Princeton, New Jersey, my mom was told that when given four simple directions, I would follow the first two and then stop.