Overwhelm as a Parent
Being a parent of a child with ADHD can be too much to handle sometimes.
Parenting in general is hard for many reasons. Your life changes drastically and you have to manage your own mental health while also caring for your child. Suddenly, there are new doctors’ appointments to schedule and someone else’s life to keep track of.
When you are the parent of a child with ADHD, you often have even more of these appointments from their pediatrician, occupational therapist, and psychologist.
When you’re managing all of these appointments, life can get overwhelming really quickly.
On top of that, when you come home, you might be faced with another meltdown over something that seems so small to you but seems so big to your child. Those drain you emotionally even more and you feel as if you just need a few minutes to yourself that you can never seem to get.
So, what can you do to actually feel less overwhelmed as a parent?
Validate what you are feeling
It can be hard to accept that you may have negative feelings about yourself and your child at times. One of the most helpful things that you can do as a parent is to allow yourself to feel how you feel. This may involve journaling by yourself at the end of the night or simply acknowledging “Today has been tough.” Parents often feel they have to appear perfect in front of everyone else, but the more you are able to allow yourself to feel your feelings, the easier it will become to manage them.
2. Stop comparing yourself
Comparison is truly the thief of joy. It is easy to think that every parent has the ideal life when you are looking at them from the outside or at what they post on social media. It’s easier said than done to stop comparing yourself to others. But, instead of focusing on the ideal parent, try focusing more on what you are doing right as a parent.
3. Channel your time and energy into what matters
To feel happier as a parent, it’s important to spend your time doing things that bring you joy. When we’re feeling overwhelmed, we all need some time to lay around and decompress with a good movie or silence. Sometimes these activities help. Other times, you may need to find an activity that is more active in order to feel better.
Channeling your energy into the right thing may also mean finding ways to better manage meltdowns and emotional regulation challenges. If meltdowns and defiance are one of your biggest challenges as a parent, learn more about this through my self-study ADHD Program.