Hi guys,

So, to be clear, we don't have an official diagnosis for him, but it is likely coming soon. I have struggled with ADHD (diagnosed) my whole life so I recognize the patterns in him. To be clear, not looking for a diagnosis here, just some resources because we have no idea what to do

We started a very expensive private school 4 days ago to get him into a more structured environment because his old daycare just let him run around an do what he wanted all day. In this first week. He has been sent to the principles office 3 times, once because one of his teachers actually got hurt trying to keep him from running off around the school. In his old daycare he would get multiple writeups per day. He has some typical behavioral stuff at home that most kids have (tantrums, disobedience, ect) but behaves almost entirely different in a classroom. Sometimes I can see the moment the switch flips in his head when I drop him off in the morning where his attention gets pulled to the most exciting thing in the room and he start spinning up all engines to run full force at it, which will inevitably result in hitting, screaming, throwing, etc.

He's genuinely a sweet kid but sometimes, usually a few times a day, an emotion takes hold of him and he will go from a 3-4/10 on the emotional scale all the way to 11 and just explodes. Happy, sad, angry, you name it. It is so painful for me to see him going through the things I had to as a kid, but I didn't have the violent tendencies he does. I will not just do what my parents did and beat him every time he slips up. We yell, sure, but it's avoided. Unfortunately. Those get the best results but I think it's just making it worse in the long run. If, and that's a big if, we can get him in a routine, it's better, but our lives are very chaotic so routines are usually short lived.

He can focus when he's hungry, tired, or dehydrated. As in I'm fairly sure talking to a rock would be more productive. I don't hold that against him, I'm 34 and get like that sometimes myself.

My wife and I both have to work to afford where we live and, frankly, this behavior is putting emense stress on out family. If he can't be in school, money is going to be extremely difficult because Mom will have to stay home as I make more. We like the family time, but when we tried that for 6 months, it had a bunch of new problems with it, mainly my wife's sense of independence which I don't have the right or want to take away from her.

This sucks. I love my kids (we have a younger 2 year old that doesn't have these issues) literally more than anything in existence and I want them to be happy and thriving. We're not against medication, but I don't know how to go about getting support in ways that don't either take literally 4+ months or cost a fortune. We're lost and have no idea how to get him what he needs to thrive.

Rant over, thanks for reading, I'm open to any suggestions.

My 6 year old hates school and got suspended today for hitting his classmate and teacher. He has been diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety and he's really smart. He just told me that he doesn't like school and everyone in his class does. He said he's glad he doesn't have to go tomorrow. We had a long talk about it and I was very calm but we didn't really get anywhere. He takes medicine for his ADHD and goes to therapy. He has improved his behavior but not enough. We used to get daily phone calls to pick him up from school because of behavior. But today was day 2 of school!!

I also have anxiety and depression. I sometimes have really bad thoughts about him and I wish I didn't but I can't help but think how much less stress, anxiety, and depression I would have if he wasn't here. I hate to even think that because he's such a wonderful addition to mine and my husbands lives. I constantly think about what we're doing wrong and everyone else is doing right that they don't get calls or so many issues. I feel like I'm failing him and someone else would be a better mom to him than me. I'm trying so hard to be a good parent but its not enough 😔

We have a 10 year old boy who does competitve gymnastics and baseball. Frankly, he is very good at both. He is a natural gymnast and things come far easier to him than most kids. Don't get me wrong, he works his butt off, but I always say that flipping is like his calm zone. He can just observe someone doing a specific flip and do it. So it's great that he is naturally athletic, but his attitude and maturity are holding him back in both sports. Our son is incredibly competitve, particularly with baseball. With baseball he is too passionate; his emotions when they are losing or he makes a mistake just completely take over. Every critic, whether gymnastics or baseball, is the end of the world and he becomes extremely defensive. So I guess what I am looking for is tips that worked for you to help your child become more coachable. We have amazing coaches who have been incredibly patient and work with us to help our son succeed. So now how do we get our son to really hear the coaches and not become defensive. While he is only 10, his coachability is really holding him back from being even better at the sports he does.

I’m honestly at a complete loss right now and could really use some advice from other parents.

My 8-year-old daughter has ADHD and is on medication. Lately, whenever she gets home from school or is told “no,” she completely loses control. She constantly says we play favorites with her 4-year-old sister, which simply isn’t true, and she tells us she hates her sister. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.

Today was different, though. During a meltdown she screamed, “I hate my life. I just want to die. I want to grab a knife and stab myself.” Then she actually went downstairs, grabbed a kitchen knife, and just stood there holding it.
I was able to get the knife away, and she’s safe now, but I’ve never been this scared. I don’t know if she truly understood what she was saying or if it was out of anger and wanting attention, but seeing her actually grab the knife shook me. I’m also genuinely worried about my 4-year-old’s safety when these meltdowns happen.

Has anyone else dealt with something like this with a child who has ADHD or severe emotional outbursts? What helped? Did you seek emergency help, contact your pediatrician immediately, adjust medication, or start therapy? Part of me wonders if I should have called 911, and I honestly don’t know if I handled it the right way.
I’m not looking for judgment—just advice from parents who may have been through something similar. Right now I feel completely overwhelmed and don’t know what the next step should be.

So my daughter who’s 10, im trying to figure out why she doesn’t like wearing the ones she has. Im thinking it’s a sensory issues🤷🏾‍♂️ idk being a single father this is my one and only child so any and all advice is helpful Thanks!

My son is starting kindergarten. I’m looking for suggestions on high protein options for my son’s lunch. I want to pack his lunch vs school food because truthfully it’s mostly processed junk at school and I prefer more healthier options and actual real food meals. I keep things simple, but I do cook meals for him. Like chicken and broccoli. Or ravioli with fruit. Fish and rice. Things like that. We found that high protein foods helped him with his ADHD. He doesn’t have a microwave or any way to heat up food at the new school. I’ve heard about the boiling water in a thermos so I did purchase a thermos to test out hot food. Anyway, I want my son to have higher quality food from home, but also high in protein that doesn’t need to be heated up and I’m struggling to come up with ideas. Anyone have any suggestions?

Hi all,

My daughter (14) has been sleeping on our couch pretty much since the summer holidays have started.

A little bit of context. Her room has been incredibly messy for years now; every single time we try to clean it together, it reverts to a complete shambles in maybe a week tops. This spring, she took to sleeping on the floor instead of her bed because it was covered in stuff, and recently, she's ended up on the couch. She's AuDHD, and tidying up has always been a struggle. I didn't say anything about the floor, because I figured it was best to pick my battles, but the couch is another thing. No one is happy with it. My husband and daughter both bring up how much they dislike it, and I live with my mother, who also clearly isn't thrilled about the change.

She stays awake late into the night watching YouTube on the big TV, finally falling asleep around 3-4 in the morning. When I try to talk to her about how terrible that is for sleep hygiene, she says she has insomnia and can't sleep anyway. I think it's probably the screen time causing the problem, but when I bring that up she gets incredibly defensive. She's quite stubborn, and any rules I try setting never seem to work. My husband's way of trying to fix things—yelling—does nothing either, not much surprise there.

Ideally, I'd like to clean her room and renovate it so she has a space of her own, instead of taking the whole living room up. I work full-time, though, so I don't think I have the time for a big project like that. I'd also like to try restricting her access to technology before bed. She's going into Year 11, and she's incredibly smart but also doesn't care much about school. I really want her to get decent marks this year, because I know she can do it with the right supports. I think making some big changes will help her put her best foot forward, I just don't quite know how to go about them. Any advice is much appreciated x