{"id":1659,"date":"2025-11-15T09:45:52","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T09:45:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.awesomearchie.co.uk\/?p=1659"},"modified":"2025-11-15T09:45:52","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T09:45:52","slug":"parenting-on-hard-mode-my-20-year-journey-as-a-neurodivergent-mum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.awesomearchie.co.uk\/?p=1659","title":{"rendered":"Parenting on Hard Mode: My 20 year Journey as a Neurodivergent Mum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This weeks blog has essentially been in the making for almost 20 years….no joke!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, I thought I was simply \u201cbad at adulting.\u201d
Bad at keeping the house tidy. Bad at remembering appointments.
Bad at staying calm when three things happened at once. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve had years of giving one negative self talk after the other. Why can’t I parent like Jen? Why is Maggie’s home always so tidy and mine is a disaster? What’s wrong with me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn\u2019t realise I was a neurodivergent mum trying to navigate life and parenting with unsupported ADHD. I’ve always been told that I’m “loud, crazy, great for a laugh” but people didn’t see the inner turmoil that I had lived with all my life. Feeling different and perceiving that difference as nothing but negative and trying to force myself to be like everyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully , those days are long gone, but it has taken work, research and self kindness to get me here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When You Don\u2019t Know You Have ADHD, Everything Feels Like a Personal Failure<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Looking back at my early parenting years, I can now see the impact of my undiagnosed ADHD in every aspect of my early mum years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
  • A messy home that I could never seem to get on top of, no matter how hard I tried.<\/li>
  • Regular overwhelm from the constant noise, schedules, responsibilities, and expectations.<\/li>
  • Missed appointments, forgotten forms, lost school letters, which left me feeling like I was always ten steps behind everyone else.<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

    At the time, I thought these struggles meant I wasn\u2019t trying hard enough.
    But the truth was so much simpler: I didn\u2019t yet understand my brain awesome neurodivergent brain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Understanding My Brain Was the Turning Point<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    My late awakening to my neurotype wasn\u2019t a surprise \u2014 it was a relief, a game changer.
    A clarity I didn\u2019t even know I needed. BUT FLIP, I NEEDED IT!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I suddenly had words for experiences I had carried alone for years.
    I understood why everyday tasks felt so draining, why motivation came in unpredictable and unreliable wafts, and why the simplest chores would feel like climbing a nevr ending mountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And knowing this didn\u2019t just help me \u2014 it reshaped how I supported my children, rwo of whom who share some of these traits too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n