Every moment we cover

203 cards for ADHD parents raising ADHD kids. Each one covers a specific moment: what to do right now, what your brain just did, what your child is experiencing, and where to go deeper. Find yours by searching on the homepage, or browse below.

When you are both in it 64

Parent and child, same room, same moment. What to do when ADHD parenting and ADHD childhood collide.

The morning getting ready battleThe homework explosionThe after-school collision — their decompression meets your mask dropThe bedtime battleThe car journey meltdownThe public meltdownWhen their meltdown triggers yoursWhen the escalation won't stop and neither of you canWhen they lose it over something tinyWhen they won't follow instructions or seem to be ignoring youWhen they're hyperfocused and won't stopWhen sibling conflict explodesWhen they get physical with their siblingFine at school, falling apart at homeWhen you said the thing that caused real damageWhen you lectured instead of stoppingWhen you were too hard on your kid for something you do yourselfWhen they keep losing or forgetting thingsWhen they can't handle losingWhen you checked your phone and they acted out to get you backThe screen-time handoffThe 5pm crash when the meds wear offThey're hungry and feral now the meds are goneWe're going to be late again and they're moving in slow motionTurning off the video game turned into a warThey bolted in the parking lot and my heart stoppedThey climbed something dangerous before I could blinkThe whole day fell apart the second the routine changedThe meltdown started over food being wrongGetting dressed became a screaming match over a sock seamBath, shower, or teeth-brushing is a nightly fightThey asked the same question fifteen times and I snappedThe noise and constant talking maxed me outI'm trying to help with homework but I can't focus eitherThey're convinced everyone hates them after one commentI corrected them gently and they completely shut downLeaving anywhere fun turns into a meltdownThey're wired at 10pm and physically cannot fall asleepThey lied straight to my face about something smallThey took something that wasn't theirsGetting out the door for the fun thing fell apart tooThey're melting down because they're overtired but won't admit itWe're travelling and they've completely unravelledThey won't stop touching their sibling and it's about to blowThey're hyper and loud in public and people are staringI can't tell if this is the meds or just a bad dayThey screamed I hate you and slammed the doorThe playdate went wrong and the other parent saw everythingThe birthday party was too much and they fell apartThey refused to take their medication this morningThey destroyed something in anger and now everyone is in shockThey exploded because I said noThe school called again and I am dreading the conversationThey are spiralling about something unfair and cannot let it goThey came home from school and emotionally dumped everything on meThe waiting room meltdown at the doctor or dentistEvery consequence turns into an argument or explosionTaking things away just makes them angrierMy other child is starting to hate their ADHD siblingThey ruined their sibling's special moment againThe whole family had to leave because one child could not copeMy partner yells and the meltdown gets worseWe fight about whether this is ADHD or bad behaviourOne of us stays calm and the other one escalates

When it is about you 79

Your shame, your burnout, your patterns. The things you do as an ADHD parent that you wish you could change.

The shame spiral after losing itRepeating your own parents' behaviourOvercorrecting with affection right after losing itContradicting your partner in front of the kidsCaving on a boundary your partner just setSnapping at your partner when it was really about your kidLosing your temper at a teacher or another parentDragging something old into a new momentTaking the day's frustration out on your kidShutting down and going coldLeaving when you should have stayedPretending you didn't see what happenedLetting something go you knew you shouldn'tForgetting something that genuinely mattered to your kidLosing the paperwork, the date, the appointmentStarting to help and getting distracted before you finishedCancelling something you'd promised because you got overwhelmedMedication timing making home worse than workOversharing your own problems with your childUsing your kid's ADHD as cover for your ownFreezing when both kids needed you at the same timeThe doom scroll instead of starting bedtimeI couldn't fill their prescription and tomorrow is an unmedicated dayI forgot to reorder the meds in timeI think I have ADHD too and it's hitting me hardGrieving the childhood I'd have had if someone had noticedA relative said it's just bad parentingI defended my kid to a relative and now there's tensionI'm secretly relieved when they're at school and I hate myself for itI'm completely touched out and can't be needed for one more secondI gave my other kid less because this one needed everythingI keep comparing them to other kids and hating myself for itI'm scared about who they'll becomeI let them have too much screen time again because I had nothing leftI'm exhausted from being the family's executive functionI dread every school email and callI compared my parenting to the calm parent onlineI bribed them just to get through the momentI'm lonely and isolated in thisMy partner and I parent completely differently and it's splitting usI'm resentful of how much harder my life isI missed an important deadline or form for themI lost it over something tiny because the whole day had stacked upI became so controlling that I made everything worseI know I should apologise but I can't make myself do itThe house is out of control and I can see the mess but can't startAm I helping my child or letting them get away with itI created chaos when things were finally calmI caught my child's mood and matched their anger instead of calming themI built a perfect system and abandoned it after three daysI can't make basic parenting decisions anymoreThe IEP or accommodation meeting left me feeling dismissedBoth of us have ADHD and the house is in freefallI found out they have been bullied and I do not know what to doThe school told me my child bullied someoneReport card day and I am bracing for the worstSomeone questioned whether my child really has ADHDI think there is something else going on underneath the ADHDI cannot tell if I am being too soft or too harshPeople keep telling me to be firmer and I want to screamI am so tired of poopI resent my child and I hate that I feel thatI do not like being around my child right nowI am always waiting for the next explosionI am scared of my child during violent outburstsThey hurt me during a meltdown and I cannot just move onThey said something cruel and I cannot stop replaying itI feel numb instead of lovingOne bad morning from them ruins my whole dayI am sick of being told to look after myself when I have nothing leftMy other child is getting the leftovers of meWe avoid normal family outings because of one child's triggersI protected the sibling and now I feel like I rejected my ADHD childI feel guilty when I enjoy time with my easier childMy partner thinks I am too softMy partner blames me for our child's behaviourMy partner checks out and leaves me to handle the hard partsWe cannot talk about parenting without both getting defensiveEvery routine still needs me to remember the routine

When it is about your child 60

Their behaviours, their struggles, their brain. What is happening inside your ADHD child and what they need from you.

Losing things constantlyForgetting things constantlySensory meltdowns — food, clothes, noise, touchWon't eat most thingsCan't sit still at dinnerImpulsive physical behaviour — running, climbing, roughhousingFalling apart over perceived failure or criticismSchool refusal or school anxietySaying the wrong thing at the wrong momentLyingThe friendship fallout they keep havingThey won't eat on the medication and it scares meThey can't fall asleep no matter what we tryThey have no friends and aren't getting invitedThey take everything personally and feel rejected constantlyThey blurt things out and interrupt constantlyThey know what to do but they can't startEvery request feels like an attack to themThey hear me but they don't moveThey create chaos when they're boredThey don't notice hunger, tiredness, or needing the toilet until it's a crisisMulti-step tasks fall apart before they finishThey say they're stupid or badThey give up the second something gets hardThey need constant reassurance and it never seems enoughThey calm down and then feel awful about what they didThey can't stop one thing and start the nextBusy places are too much and they shut down or explodeThey keep provoking their sibling even though they know it ends badlyTheir body is always moving and they can't make it stopBedtime makes them more awake, not lessThey asked why they are different from other kidsThey fixate on what is unfair and cannot move past itThey are anxious about tomorrow and cannot switch it offThey keep saying they are bored and expecting me to fix itThey were rough with the pet and did not mean to hurt itThey said they have no homework when they doThey copy bad behaviour from other kids then cannot stopThey will not do any chores or responsibilities without a fightConsequences do not work and I do not know what else to doRewards do not work either and now I feel out of optionsThey say sorry and then do the same thing againThey know the rule but still cannot follow it in the momentThey waited too long to go to the toilet and now everything is a crisisI found hidden dirty underwear and I do not know how to reactThey will not wipe properly and I am trying not to shame themThey smell bad but will not shower or use deodorantPuberty has started and hygiene is suddenly a daily fightThey are old enough to do basic hygiene but still need meOther kids do not like them and I can see whyThey are too much for other childrenThey boss other kids around and then feel rejectedThey cannot tell when the game has stopped being funThey keep annoying people after being asked to stopThey are rude to adults and I feel humiliatedThey always need the last wordThey take over every conversationThey are older now and the anger is biggerThey want to be treated older but cannot manage basic thingsThey refuse supports because they feel babyish