Around 1 in 25 adults has ADHD, and most of them are parents. Adult ADHD symptoms like inattention, impulsivity, and problems staying organized make the already difficult job of parenting even more challenging.
ADHD parents face many difficulties. To make things more difficult, ADHD runs in families. As many as half of kids with the illness have parents who share their diagnosis.
What can you do? Let’s take a look at some strategies.
1. Make Sure Your ADHD Is Well Treated
Cures like medicines and behavioral therapy can help your parenting skills shine, and that means less pressure and stress for everyone.
The right treatment should help you stick to daily routines and habits, like preparing for the school day, getting homework done, and the many small jobs that must be finished before bedtime. This kind of consistency and format makes things more comfortable for your kids and for you.
Parents who are diagnosed with ADHD may have trouble handling their emotional responses when their children misbehave. Parenting with ADHD is a difficult task.
And it’s sometimes more challenging for them to pay attention to their kids’ positive behaviors, which should be acknowledged and applauded. Proper treatment can help with these issues as well.
If you have one or more children who are also diagnosed with ADHD, getting the cure for yourself should help you help them.
When your own signs are under control, you are likely to do an adequate job of maintaining track of your ADHD medicines and appointments.
If your child gets behavioral treatment for their ADHD, then you need to be involved. Therapy could assist you to do that more effectively.
One analysis found that ADHD parents had trouble paying attention during therapy and recalling to rehearse behavior strategies at home.
2. Spend Quality Time With Your Kids
Because you are inclined to be distracted, you may not realize that you are not giving your children the one-on-one time with you that they must need.
Pencil in some “kid time” each day and spend it with your kids, even if it is just a brief session. Write them down on your ADHD planner or set reminders on your phone to help you keep your promise.
3. Remain Consistent
People with ADHD usually act and communicate impulsively. That can mean you react to your child’s behavior differently each time.
That is confusing for kids, and it is ineffective when you are trying to handle a child’s behavior problems.
Try this: Make a list of family rules along with how you will respond when they are broken (do this jointly with your spouse, partner, or ex if you co-parent) with the help of an ADHD friendly planner.
Keep the list somewhere you will see it frequently. Refer to it as required to keep you from going off-message.
4. Operate Timers to Focus Your Concentration
When you are in charge of your kids, your mind may roam when you are supposed to be keeping a watch on them. And unmonitored kids are more likely to hurt themselves, especially if they also have been diagnosed with ADHD.
Don’t lean on willpower to remain focused. Set a timer to remind you to check on your kids at proper intervals, say every 15 to 30 minutes, depending on their age.
5. Divide the parenting duties among your partner
As a parent diagnosed with ADHD, you need to realize your strengths and flaws and how they impact your parenting skills.
If you are a parent with a spouse, partner, or ex, talk to them regarding this. If you have a friend or family who can help, then take help from them. Work together to create an effective division of work:
- If you stumble with time management and punctuality, hand off duties for time-sensitive things, like meetings with the doctor or school assignments with a deadline.
- Help with school tasks may not be a good fit for you, particularly if your ADHD isn’t treated.
- If you have a problem focusing when you are after the wheel of a car, have your partner or spouse shuttle your kids to school or academy and elsewhere.
These parenting duties are enough to add on someone else’s plate. So in return, bring on more tasks, especially those that don’t need to be accomplished in a particular time. Think of things like laundry, lawn work, and home care.
6. Take a Break
If your kids have you feeling stressed out or overwhelmed, discover a way to take a break. In fact, you should schedule regular alone time to relax.
Do you have a favorite hobby? Any favorite activity? A club to join? Plan time to do these kinds of things each week.
Every parent needs to get away from their children sometimes. But that is especially a clear fact for parents diagnosed with ADHD, who have more trouble handling their emotions.
Have a plan in place to relax when you need to. If you sense like you are about to overreact, find a silent space and put yourself to rest, and spend some time with me time.
7. Have a talk with your Doctor or Therapist
ADHD signs change a lot. Each person may have more or less trouble attending to certain duties, including parenting.
Discuss these problems with your spouse or partner, of course, but you should also talk to your doctor or therapist about your problems.
Together, you can go over what you think your parenting strengths are and discuss where your flaws lie.
This can help your therapist tailor a therapy program that handles the areas where you need the most help.
For instance, you may have a problem getting motivated to stick with necessary jobs, like toilet training, when other things compete for your concentration. Your therapist can help you create skills to remain on task.
8. Enhance your learning capability
If one or more of your kids has ADHD, lessons can help you learn to handle their behavior. You might give a chance to behavioral parenting training or BPT.
These classes manage things like house rules and routines, how to give clear instructions, hailing good behavior, and more.
Generally, BPT is done around 8-12 hours with a therapist. But parents diagnosed with ADHD may benefit from a stronger dose.
The study has shown that 12 2-hour BPT sessions may deliver better results for parents who have ADHD.
That is because adults diagnosed with ADHD need to make the skills they learn automatically. That way, you don’t have to lean on your possibly less-than-adequate control abilities.
Your best bet is an adaptable program that gives you time to rehearse each new skill before you move on to knowing the next one.
9. Treat your each kid fairly
If you have more than one kid and all the other kids don’t have ADHD, their results may need to be different. That can be the tough part for a parent.
Tell all your kids that you all are a team and the results will be fair but not always the same. Show mercy when any of your kids feel angry. Say, “I understand this might be tough for you to accept.”
10. Take a proper care of yourself
ADHD behaviors can be challenging to deal with. When you are calm, relaxed, and rested, you can endure more and handle it better.
This may point you to cut back on duties and adjust your schedule and standards. Self-care like a proper workout, good sleep, and a good diet is also very important.
That way, you are better prepared to help your family and yourself.
Winding Up!!!
So these are some tips for the parents with ADHD symptoms. We understand it is hard to manage your duties with your illness. But with proper treatment and therapy you can live a normal life with your kids and family.
You can fulfill all your duties when you have a supporting spouse. Ask for help from your spouse to share the responsibilities. Don’t take too much burden on yourself.
Make a proper list of all your daily activities and jobs to perform them properly. For maintaining the list you can take the help of various planners like ADHD daily planner.
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