Busybody

[April1986]

Hello, I am a new member. I am here because I really need help! Desperately. I am a mother, a wife and I work part time and attend school full time... My children are 5, 2 and 1. My 5 year old has ADHD! She currently takes Ritalin. When her medicine wears off I can not get anything done. At times I feel embarrassed because some people just don't understand. I do the best I can in parenting. Before she was diagnosed I did spank her... But what people fail to realize is that she doesn't need to be spanked. She is just so full of energy. I'm exhausted. I need some ideas on how I can live and still have my sanity. Thanks for reading my post.

[Onthemove1971]

I totally understand.. Is she on long acting? How many hours does she take it? My son takes his in the morning which lasts through school then we do a short acting for tutoring and sports it os perfect. I would talk to the doctor who gave it to her to see if you can get a longer medication because it also means she struggles when not on it. Hope this helps.

[April1986 in reply to Onthemove1971]

Wow I am new at this so I'm not sure about long acting and short acting. She takes a tablet and a half (615 am) in the morning. Then at 130 she takes 1 tablet. She starts cranking up again about 530/600. Can you tell by that info

[Niko2012]

I can understand completely, she’s at a good age to find things that stimulate her calmly, what I mean by that is my son loves drawing, I put on calming music in the background while he colors or allow him to watch drawing sessions on iPad so he can mimic the drawings. Find what grasp’s her attention and run with it, legos, bath time with drawing crayons, I also do that with music because I’ve noticed w my son once he started loving music it calmed him to do independent activities. My son also is obsessed with making things out of recycled cardboard boxes. He will literally do that for over an hour in his room. I only allow free range in his room which for me gives me anxiety because it often ends up in a mess but it’s his comfort space he’s created. If she’s not independently doing stuff and needs your attention, which my son was that way around 5 (he’s now 6) I started with, moms going to do 25 min. Of quiet time (I’d read or something) then encourage her to pick whatever she’d like to do in her alone time, then before I knew it he often wanted more of that time on his own. I hope this helps. Just know you’re not alone I know it can feel that way often

[April1986 in reply to Niko2012]

Thanks, I appreciate the reply. I will try and use some of those suggestions