Hi- I am a parent of a 9 year old ADHD girl. She has a 13 year old sister and a three year old brother. Dad travels 4 days a week and I am a stay at home mother, previous ESE teacher. I really feel for the single mothers that I see posting on this thread because there are times when I feel like I just want to run away because I am so stressed out with the constant arguing, outbursts and emotional mood swings. I am certain that I am depressed. I have read that mothers of ADHD kids tend to alienate themselves from their child because they feel hopeless and I can empathize with this. Being a former teacher, I am a fairly strict parent and it seems that this is the worst thing for an ODD child. I have learned to pick my battles, not hold the ADHD/ODD child as accountable as my other children- just to keep the peace in the house. My husband comes home from his traveling refreshed and will get onto her about trivial things that I have just given up on and so I am forced to deal with the fallout that I am trying to avoid.
My 13 year old rule following easy daughter is reluctant to invite friends over for a sleepover due to the the craziness and tantrums in the house. My three year old son is learning very bad behaviors from his 9 year old sister. I do not think it is fair to ruin the childhood of my other two kids by being subjected to the daily tantrums and outbursts. I am at the point now that I would send the 9 year old to a boarding school, if we could afford it. I feel that at this point, after trying many behavior modification systems that have very short shelf lives... IM DONE. If I try to explain why I said "no" I get an emotional outburst, fingers in ears, wallowing on the floor drooling/crying like an abused animal reaction. I am not able to TEACH my daughter anything and my only role is to feed her and clean up after her. I do not see her future as being a productive member of society and I do not know where to go from here for the sanity of the family. I am ashamed to admit that I sometimes count down the years until she is out of the home. Feeling so hopeless. I am currently looking into boarding schools that specialize in adhd and they cost about 100K a year.. ARe you kidding me? Who can afford that?
My 13 year old rule following easy daughter is reluctant to invite friends over for a sleepover due to the the craziness and tantrums in the house. My three year old son is learning very bad behaviors from his 9 year old sister. I do not think it is fair to ruin the childhood of my other two kids by being subjected to the daily tantrums and outbursts. I am at the point now that I would send the 9 year old to a boarding school, if we could afford it. I feel that at this point, after trying many behavior modification systems that have very short shelf lives... IM DONE. If I try to explain why I said "no" I get an emotional outburst, fingers in ears, wallowing on the floor drooling/crying like an abused animal reaction. I am not able to TEACH my daughter anything and my only role is to feed her and clean up after her. I do not see her future as being a productive member of society and I do not know where to go from here for the sanity of the family. I am ashamed to admit that I sometimes count down the years until she is out of the home. Feeling so hopeless. I am currently looking into boarding schools that specialize in adhd and they cost about 100K a year.. ARe you kidding me? Who can afford that?