took over family scheduling from my wife recently. I coach my son's soccer so I figured how hard could the rest be so much harder soccer twice a week, daughter in gymnastics and art, school events popping up in emails I just got added to

Last week I put a dentist appointment during my daughter's art recital my wife would never have made that mistake because she had the whole picture in her head dads who manage the scheduling what's the best app for busy parents juggling kids activities ?

I see this question here almost every week, so I wanted to put it in one place. I taught special ed for years and now work privately with families.

Many parents describe some version of "the teacher says she's doing great, but homework is a nightly fight," or "on the weekends she just kind of crashes." It's easy to read that as your child behaving for everyone but you. Most of the time something else is going on.

School is full of structure your kid doesn't have to create herself: bells, a schedule on the board, a teacher saying "take out your notebook," and a room full of kids doing the same thing. That structure does much of the executive-function work for her. She still spends real effort all day keeping it together, and she brings that tiredness home.

At home, the structure disappears. Nobody rings a bell at 4:00. She has to decide when to start, what to do first, and how to keep going, at the end of the day when she has the least left. That's also why homework with a parent gets heated so fast. You're the one asking her to do the hardest part at the hardest time.

A few things that tend to help:

- Bring some of school's structure home: same start time, same spot, first task decided before she sits down.

- Give a real break after school, with an end time agreed on ahead of time.

- Make the first step tiny. "Open the math folder" is a fine start.

- If homework is wrecking your relationship, it's okay to hand that role to someone else for a while.

Curious what's worked for others. Is the after-school crash worse on certain days for your kids?

I am a neurotypical parent of an adopted ADHD child (who also has learning disabilities). I am beginning to believe that being neurotypical is not good for anyone in this situation and that how my brain is wired is actually making our lives more challenging. Anyone else out there in a similar situation? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

This was super helpful!

Hi! Looking for advice on whether I should get my teen son tested for ADHD. My son started HS, so far he is been adjusting well to the new environment. Academically he is doing well, he got As and some Bs in middle school, most of the time he finished homework on time and in some occasions he would be scrambling last minute to finished his work, but would get his homework done. Now in high-school is similar, doing well is tests, homework has been late a few times, I ask him whether he has homework and says he doesn’t and then late at night he is doing homework. Sometimes I think he may have some ADHD because he is not very organized, his school papers are always crumpled is his backpack, looses pencils constantly, he lost 2 pairs of glasses, and is always playing with something in his hand that ends up breaking. I noticed in middle school he had some anxiety, but feel now in high school it has been resolved. Other, than his lack of organization, I don’t see any other concerning behavior. Sometimes he is a little bit impulsive, likes to climb trees and walk on the railing of the deck, which might be some risky behavior. Should I get him tested for ADHD or consider other kind of testing? Thanks

hi everyone, I’ve never wrote in one of these groups before but feel like I might find some connection. my almost six year old son has always dealt with frustration a lot differently than my eight year old daughter. We just recently felt like we turned a corner with him and then out of nowhere his anger, violence, and meltdowns when he’s upset have been a daily battle in our home. I feel like I’m mourning my son and the life we all had before. I have an appointment with a child psychiatrist tomorrow and will go from there but he just had zero ability to regulate once he’s upset and everything upsets him. I feel lost and scared and I guess just hoping to see if anyone can relate :(

I have a 2.5yo and a 9 month old. Im really struggling. I love my kids more than anything but i suck at this so bad. Im not organised and i hate cleaning. Im a sahm and im just so overwhelmed all the time. I struggle with mutlitasking... i find it hard doing literally anything while im supervising the kids and trying to keep them alive and fed. so of course the house is a mess.. no chores are done. Theres a million things to plan ahead for... organise.. action throughout the day. i just cant keep up.

One of my issues is i dont know what the hell i do with my toddler? Like what do i do with him all day?

I wake up in the morning and i dont know what to do. Breakfast is easy but then like after breakfast? Im stuck. We cant go out anywhere because the baby cant sleep on the go. She needs quiet and a dark room. So by the time shes awake it's already 10am but now Toddler is hungry... and then BAM its already lunchtime. If we go out anywhere it leads to meltdowns by the end because toddler is still learning how to listen and follow instructions.

I dont know how to play with my toddler. We have many toys but its like hes bored of them (im kind of bored of them too)? Or he's out grown them all?. We did a sensory activity today with rice. He loved it but the clean up took longer than the activity. I forget what im meant to be doing. I dont know how to keep on top of tasks. And i dont know how to play with my toddler. He likes reading books and jumping on me. He hates colouring/drawing. He loves cars and trucks but he doesnt really DO anything with them except line them up on the window sill. Sometimes i look at the four walls of our house and feel... trapped in there. I hate staying home but then going out leaving the house involves a million steps (which my toddler fights each step)

I dont know what to do. Does anyone have any advice? Do i need a schedule for myself or something?

My son (8M) is currently on a low dose of methylphenidate. He was previously on it, but we took him off when we started homeschooling because we felt like the medication may have been playing a part in some things we were dealing with (long story for another time lol). We put him back on 5mg when he decided he wanted to play football, just to help him get through practices. I feel like the methylphenidate almost overstimulates him in a way, so with football coming to an end, I’m wanting to look into trying a non-stimulant instead. We did try Intuniv when he was around 6, but he was extremely sleepy the next day, so we stopped it pretty quickly. I’m not completely opposed to trying it again, though! Has anyone ever retried a medication that didn’t work well when their child was younger, but had a better experience as they got older?
Also, for those of you whose children take non-stimulants, how long did it take before you started noticing a difference? I’d love to hear your experiences! Thank you in advance!

How are y’all dealing with middle school? My oldest started this year and has been struggling bad. She takes so long to complete tasks and always has to take work home. But by the time she gets home, she is exhausted. She is medicated. She doesn’t eat a lot when medicated, but struggles even more when she’s unmedicated. They wouldn’t consider her for an IEP in elementary because she doesn’t have behavioral issues.

She’s got to the point where she’s crying every day because she’s so exhausted and overwhelmed. She is starting to hate school. Homeschooling can’t happen for us and idk how to help.

My kiddo 3M will likely walk away with a formal ADHD dx today.

We are currently sitting in the office waiting for the dr to talk through his assessments.

Idk how to feel, or how I will feel after I hear it.

But also 3 is so young to be dx...if its rough now...what will it look like in a few years?

My 6yo just got expelled from her school today. We’re doing anything and everything to help her. Medication, behavioral therapy, practice when she’s calm but she can’t seem to handle the social things ar school. She’s very emotionally dysregulated.

It was a private school so they aren’t really equipped to handle neurodivergent kids. But more than anything my heart is broken for my little girl who was so excited to meet her assigned “buddy” on Friday. She doesn’t know yet.

Typing this through tears and I just want to hear some encouragement from parents that were in the trenches at this age and have come out on the other side 😭

My son with ADHD LOVES to listen to audiobooks. I am looking for some audiobook recommendations. I am open to any suggestions. It could be a book with a character he can relate to or could be a non fictional book that would help him with his self esteem, and teach him strategies to help him stay focused and complete tasks. Thank you everyone in advance!

Edit to add
My son is 7 years old

My child never wants to sleep. My child use to go to bed between 9-9:30 every night.but since may of this year my child doesn't go to bed until 11-11:30 and sometimes it's 1am. I don't know what to do. The doctor does give him sleep medication but I get so much anxiety giving it to him that im up checking on him 3-4 times a night. I don't give it to him. Anything i can do to get him to go to sleep around 9-9:30 again. I'm exhausted

Just signed my daughter up to try out jiu jitsu. She’s 6 and highly emotionally dysregulated in large social settings (aka school).

She’s a dream one on one but everything we try at home never translates to school. So I’m wondering if this will feel pointless too.

(She’s currently a month in on Focalin XR 10 mg and about 5 days into Guanfacine 1mg. Also in behavioral therapy)

Has anyone seen improvement with martial arts that translates well to social settings for your child?