Parenting a Child with ADHD | Surviving Parenting a Child with ADHD – Welcome
Hi there! It’s Mrs P here – but you can call me Sandra. I’ve never been much of a one for formality!! And this is my family. Graham, Marissa (the big one with ADHD) & Sabrina.
Welcome to my blog.
I suspect you may have landed here as you are looking for answers about parenting a child with ADHD?
Here in this blog I aim to share my daily life as a mother parenting a child with ADHD in the hope of helping others coping with the same struggles to know that they are not alone.
I aim to share the struggles, the feelings, the joys, the disappointments, the pain, the challenges, the triumphs, the frustrations, the heartache, the funny side and the fight to support and help my daughter.
I also want to bring awareness about the effects it has on the whole family as well because it does affect everyone…
….not just the mother and the child concerned.
This is a Mother’s First Hand Account.
I hope you’ll enjoy reading….
Parenting a Child with ADHD | Surviving Parenting a Child with ADHD – The Beginning
Looking back to when I was 12 years old, I used to spend as much time as possible in my neighbour’s house playing with her small babies and babysitting them whenever I could.
I wished for the day I could become a Mum myself.
I never really knew what I wanted to do for a job when I grew up but I definitely had a dream of becoming a mum and living happily ever after.
Little did I know how difficult it would be when it finally happened at the age of 39….
…but then I didn’t realise back then that I’d be parenting a child with ADHD.
And even as I hear myself saying that it’s been difficult, I am filled full of guilt at feeling that way because it seems ungrateful….
Being a parent is a miraculous gift and I know only too well that some people are not lucky enough to be given the opportunity.
To those people who want to have children but for whatever reason can’t, my heart goes out to you.
Because however difficult parenting a child with ADHD has been for me I truly know how lucky I am to have my two gorgeous daughters and I am endlessly grateful that I have been blessed with the gift of sharing my life with them and my wonderful husband.
And that guilt I feel when I say that family life can be difficult when parenting a child with ADHD is part of the reason I’m writing this blog.
I can’t be the only parent of a child with ADHD who sometimes struggles with the challenges it presents and the guilt of feeling it’s difficult….
….struggles to keep calm when there’s a deadline to meet to get to school or work on time and your child has taken 50 minutes to complete two five minute tasks when she even has a 10 minute timer to help her focus on the task and the timescale to do it in.
…struggles to find incentives to motivate your child to get things done when they can’t keep the rewards in mind long enough to focus on the goal.
…struggles when your child gets so upset and sobs her heart out because she’s really really been trying to concentrate but the more she tries the harder it is because her frontal lobes shut down when she tries too hard.
They say it helps to write things down to help you deal with your feelings.
So I thought writing this blog will help me do that and if JUST ONE OTHER PERSON who’s struggling with parenting a child with ADHD just like me were to stumble upon it whilst looking for help online one day, then hopefully they will know they’re not alone.
And if that person is you and you want to get in touch, please know that I am real and would love to chat.
Check out my facebook page here, or you can friend request and message me on my personal page here.
You can even email me here.
Sending you love and hugs ….because if you are that person you probably need them!!
Love & Hugs
x x x
Hi Sandra,
Great idea for a blogging forum. I think I was one of those ADHD kids, back in the day when our parents didn’t recognize it, nor did the medical professional much.
I think the adults or professionals would rather brush it off or call it poor behavior and for some of us think it was due to being poorly disciplined or sloppy manners learned from careless households.
This is a great topic that I am sure will benefit many people.
l can appreciate how you feel somewhat guilty as a parent struggling with the added challenges we face. We don’t always know what our children will present us with, but it forces us to rise to those challenges out of sheer necessity.
I loved being active throughout my earlier school years since it was the one time I felt much more confident with my abilities. I was good at sport. I wasn’t good at sitting quietly at a desk, concentrating.. It took too much focus. Physical activity, sports days and recesses all forced my focus and thus helped my brain stay on task and that’s when I felt best about myself.
I also think it was easier back when we didn’t have computers and wireless devices that promote our inactivity.
I understand how our modern digital age contributes to a higher percentage of our kids being diagnosed with the ADD contributing to out limited attention spans.
Won’t it be nicer as parents to not feel guilty parenting a child with ADHD? We are fortunate now in ways, since at least we have many more resources to help us help ourselves and help our kids cope. Looking forward to more of your posts.
Thank you Teresa for such a detailed and informative contribution. Yes I too was recently diagnosed at age 50 with ADD and they say the hyperactivity goes in girls as they grow older – yet back at school I got permission from the head teacher at Junior school to play football with the boys in the boys playground because I wanted the intense activity of that kind of play rather than “girlie” play so maybe I too had a bit of hyperactivity back then.
And yes back then we didn’t know what it was…..now we do but it’s hard to get a diagnosis sometimes…
As an outsider looking in and also as a parent who’s child was never diagnosed having ADHD, I can appreciate this blog. I will be following you! My child is now an adult but I am convinced that ADHD is still prevalent in his daily activities.
I look forward to learning more from you.
Beth We too have not yet had a diagnosis and due to the constraints placed upon the requirements to get one in the UK and the fact that girls can be very clever at disguising the symptoms for long enough periods at school so that teachers who only see her for an hour at a time don’t notice plus Marissa’s intense desire not to stand out I feel we are unlikely to get one. However everyone who knows her outside of school and her friends agree that she does most likely have ADHD and the challenges are real especially as she refuses all offers of help due to her preference to fit in and not stand out as different to her peers. I hope my thoughts will help you and maybe entertain to a degree. After all sometimes if you don’t laugh you’ll cry. Sending hugs. X x x ♡ ♡ ♡
great blog Sandra.. I know from experience so many people will relate… good job Mrs P 🙂
THanks Helen, I hope to help other mum’s like me to know they’re not alone.
Great post Sandra. Definitely this post will benefit alot of families that are experiencing the same as you. Thanks for sharing 🙂
THanks for your encouragement and for taking the time to read and comment. If it only helps one family or one mum then it is well worth sharing the journey.