A Facebook Memory— The Popcorn Era
A story about seeing the signs of my daughter's neurodivergent mind over a spilled bowl of popcorn
I love my Facebook memories sometimes.
This one popped up from when my kid was 5 years old.
She’s 11 now.
She’s still just like this.
She’s neurodivergent, by the way.
(That is NOT a limitation.)
This memory is so her that I’m actually laughing out loud, because I can literally see her entire neurodivergent reasoning pattern already forming at FIVE.
(AKA: the signs.)
She had a bowl of popcorn.
She dumped the bowl of popcorn on her lap.
Her little:
“I just wanted to see what would happen.”
—THAT IS THE MOST HER SENTENCE SHE HAS EVER SPOKEN.
Her dad: “So can I turn my cup of coffee over on top of you?!”
Her: “No!”
Me: “Why not?”
…And then the chef’s kiss— the Crème de la Crop:
Her: “It will spill!”
THE AUDACITY. THE CONFIDENCE.
THE COMPLETE FAILURE TO CONNECT HER OWN LOGIC TO THE NEXT MOMENT.
The precious, broken causal chain— her neurodivergent mind speaking out loud…
She was basically saying:
”The rules apply to ME doing experiments on the universe — not the universe doing experiments on ME.”
That is my kid absolutely on brand:
✓Cause-and-effect curiosity
✓Literal logic
✓Experiment-driven thinking
✓Zero practical awareness of consequences
✓FULL confidence in the correctness of her hypothesis—and absolutely NO transference of logic onto others
Now… let’s talk about the signs.
Because this is EXACTLY the early seed of her NVLD/ADHD cognitive style:
→Testing a hypothesis
→Hyperfocusing on the idea
→Not anticipating the next step
→Zero awareness of the “big picture” consequence
→ Total confusion when an adult applies her own logic back to her
That was baby Taytum inventing her very first cognitive loophole.
And looking at now…
We’re still living in the popcorn era —just with much bigger “bowls.”
Assignments.
Chromebooks.
Social dynamics.
Executive function tasks.
She still does things because “I wanted to see,”
…and then gets confused when it turns into a mess.
That’s the gut-wrenching part. Because no one else can see it the way I do.
And the bowls now?
Well—they’re heavier.
They matter more.
And they hurt more when they spill.
And they are not easy to clean up because they’re not just popcorn.
This memory is tender and it’s revealing.
It perfectly captures her beautiful, brilliant, neurodivergent mind —
long before the world started misunderstanding it.
🗣️Let’s Talk About it
Do you remember when you first saw the signs?
Maybe this triggered something in you to look back and search for them.
I have a passion for the ND mind.
I have a huge compassion for the parents of the children with the ND mind.
I know how lonely it can feel.
You’re not alone.
I’m right here.
It is such a hard balance as a Mom to let your kid “be” and also control our own perfectionism and damaged minds and hearts. I am always balancing between wanting to scream and being amazed by my kids. I just keep telling them how creative they are ….and now can we clean it up? lol 😂