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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To deduct the cost of replacement period pants from DD’s pocket money?

332 replies

Handsoffmypants · 05/07/2023 20:12

Am I being a horrible mother?

My daughter is nearly 13, she has diagnosed ASD and being referred for ADHD, for full disclosure. However despite social communication difficulties, she is fairly ‘normal’ for her age in the sense that she can get a train into the city to go and meet her friends, go around the shops etc, in fact in that sense she’s more independent than my much older daughter.

She has an allowance of £50 per month which she buys all her clothes and make up from (except expensive things like trainers and coats etc).

Her room is a fucking pigsty and there’s always clothes all over the floor, including the clean piles of laundry which I put on her bed for her to put away. She never bothers, they get turfed onto the floor, then every once in a while she puts everything, clean or dirty, back into the laundry basket. Obviously I get pissed off with her about this. Last night was one of those times, laundry basket went from pretty much empty to overflowing with her clean/dirty clothes.

I’ve put on a wash of some of the stuff out of her room, and amongst it was 2 pairs of my period pants, which as anyone who buys them
knows, aren’t cheap.

Now this isn’t the first time she’s nicked my period pants, she has plenty of pairs of her own but because her room is such a jumble of clothes, it’s easier to take mine from my organised drawers than hunt through her clothes for hers. I have told her very clearly in the past that I am not in the slightest bit up for sharing period pants with her, it’s fucking rank and she needs to find her own ones and not take mine. Apart from anything else, I have a separate bin for period pants and put them on their own wash without fabric conditioner, as you’re supposed to, so as not to wreck them - but of course she just chucks hers (mine!) in the main basket and I don’t notice until I’m hanging washing out to dry.

There is a recurring theme btw of her not respecting mine or her sister’s possessions at all, taking what she fancies and then lying about it.

So tonight, after the discovery of two pairs of my period pants being used by her, after fuck knows how many times of telling her not to do that, I’ve reiterated again that she’s an absolute minger for thinking I want to share period pants with her, she can keep those pairs and I will replace mine out of her pocket money. AIBU?

OP posts:
SoWhatEh · 06/07/2023 16:42

I completely agree with all the posters saying ADHD teens should not be punished for being chaotic. They should be taught very calmly how to tidy, breaking it down into tiny, specific chunks, and being helped and checked in on again and again.

I was in chaos as a teen. No one helped me. I just lurched around in a dream fugue state. I never really worked out how to get sorted in life until I stumbled upon Flylady as an adult, who seemed to be naturally chaotic just like me. I just followed her techniques and still do. And devised similar ones to teach my teen.

Don't take away her pocket money. It will make no difference to her neural capacity to be tidy. It will just make her feel angry and sad and unloved. Solve the problem, don't punish it.

Runnerduck34 · 06/07/2023 17:43

HeartbreakHigh · 06/07/2023 08:46

If you really want a solution OP, instead of just slagging your daughter off, I have a suggestion for you:

Once her room is tidy, so you have a clear and calm starting point, you set up a box with her. The box will contain 7 pairs of clean period pants and a mesh wash bag.

What your daughter will do is take the pants and put the dirty ones in mesh bag. You can pick them up throughout week or in one go, wash and put back in correct place.

Your DD will have clean pants. You might need to remind about this system for some time, and get her to put the used ones in there, without shaming her.

Re: public transport and being more independent in “some ways”. That is is great. It is also irrelevant to her bedroom.

I have a first class degree and am highly organised and competent in some areas of life. I also struggle to pack a suitcase or to meal plan, lose my keys on a regular basis and have a history of putting the wrong fuel in my car.

My 10 year is autistic and has ADHD. I have ADHD.

My DD needs a tidy calm room to help her in life as much as possible, to retreat from the world and to be able to find things.

However, left to her own devices she would end up in a “pig sty” and overwhelmed.

We have worked together over a couple of years with systems and support from me, and there are now periods where she will keep on top of her room really well. They are periods of her life where she is well regulated and coping in other areas.

When she is overwhelmed in general, this is reflected in the state of her room and her executive functioning skills are impaired in general.

At the moment, she is nearing “pig sty” mode.

Today, I will go into her room and remove obvious rubbish and dirty clothing - most of the dirty clothes will be in wash bin as we have worked on this over time, but there are bound to be a few clean things.

I will take them out - this is ongoing, as sometimes she takes the “I have worn it so it is dirty” approach, even to clothing such a jeans which aren’t dirty and could be worn again. Alternately, when she is attached to a particular item or clothing she might insist that it is not dirty, when it is.

We have agreed that I can take dirty clothes and rubbish when she is not there, this took time and trust though.

For me to tidy it all when she isn’t in is something that causes stress, even with good intentions, as she then can’t find her things or cope with the unexpected change. Things that look like rubbish to me might actually be important to her.

I will fold clean clothes but I will not put them away, she needs to do that herself so that she can find them. I will support with that it necessary. They go in a box for now, beside drawers.

When DD gets home today, I will suggest to her that we could spend 10 minutes tidying her room, later on.

If she is very resistant to this, “No, I’ve had a hard day” for example, fair enough. I will tell her “I need it to be done by Sunday night, give me a shout when you are ready”.

This will happen, maybe with the odd reminder of “let me know when you are ready”. She might need a lot of support and encouragement, she might need very little. This has taken a lot of time and practice.

She knows how that she feels calmer in a tidy room (this took a while for her to recognise too, she used to feel safer in a messy “nest”).

The drawers are all labelled (we did this together with a label maker, she has one and she loves making labels now). There are separations in some drawers - a part for pants, one for socks, one for swimwear. Nothing is assumed. She picked categories.

This was a work in progress for a while, we kept reviewing it together to see what helped, including changing furniture or choosing new storage solutions together.

Other boxes and drawers are labelled. “Art supplies” is too vague. “Coloured pencils/scissors/glue” is more helpful.

If she is struggling then we set a 10 minute timer (I promise to leave after 10 minutes and stick to that) and do it in parts. She might watch and I talk her through it but she doesn’t contribute much.

At the end, with a tidy base, she can easily hoover and wipe surfaces and always does that part.

As part of morning ticklist she makes her bed.

I still help with the evening “what do we need for tomorrow?” checklist, in means she knows where her clothes and supplies are in the morning, better for us all.

About 30 % of the time, these days, she will suddenly decide to tidy by herself and call out to me for fresh bedcovers and a bin bag, and our dirty clothes in the hall and ask me to take them. She will do a brilliant job and her room looks beautiful. This has taken time though and she isn’t always capable of this.

My daughter is what used to be described as “high functioning” (which is a bloody unhelpful label sometimes; she might be academically capable and masking whilst in the gutter with her mental health).

I help her because I love and respect her. I know what it feels like to struggle with the things others appear to find easy and to feel like a lazy failure (and that can definitely be covered with bravado or “rudeness” which is actually anxiety).

One day, in the “real world” my DD will use ten minute timers for herself. She might label things. She will have a system for period pants! But she will still “fail” in some areas and excel in others. I hope though that she will always be kind to herself and to any neurodivergent children that she has (and is statistically more likely to have).

I love this advice, very relatable! Im going to try and put it in practice with my own DD with ASC/ADHD

Rainbowsandbutterflies1990 · 06/07/2023 17:58

HeartbreakHigh · 06/07/2023 08:46

If you really want a solution OP, instead of just slagging your daughter off, I have a suggestion for you:

Once her room is tidy, so you have a clear and calm starting point, you set up a box with her. The box will contain 7 pairs of clean period pants and a mesh wash bag.

What your daughter will do is take the pants and put the dirty ones in mesh bag. You can pick them up throughout week or in one go, wash and put back in correct place.

Your DD will have clean pants. You might need to remind about this system for some time, and get her to put the used ones in there, without shaming her.

Re: public transport and being more independent in “some ways”. That is is great. It is also irrelevant to her bedroom.

I have a first class degree and am highly organised and competent in some areas of life. I also struggle to pack a suitcase or to meal plan, lose my keys on a regular basis and have a history of putting the wrong fuel in my car.

My 10 year is autistic and has ADHD. I have ADHD.

My DD needs a tidy calm room to help her in life as much as possible, to retreat from the world and to be able to find things.

However, left to her own devices she would end up in a “pig sty” and overwhelmed.

We have worked together over a couple of years with systems and support from me, and there are now periods where she will keep on top of her room really well. They are periods of her life where she is well regulated and coping in other areas.

When she is overwhelmed in general, this is reflected in the state of her room and her executive functioning skills are impaired in general.

At the moment, she is nearing “pig sty” mode.

Today, I will go into her room and remove obvious rubbish and dirty clothing - most of the dirty clothes will be in wash bin as we have worked on this over time, but there are bound to be a few clean things.

I will take them out - this is ongoing, as sometimes she takes the “I have worn it so it is dirty” approach, even to clothing such a jeans which aren’t dirty and could be worn again. Alternately, when she is attached to a particular item or clothing she might insist that it is not dirty, when it is.

We have agreed that I can take dirty clothes and rubbish when she is not there, this took time and trust though.

For me to tidy it all when she isn’t in is something that causes stress, even with good intentions, as she then can’t find her things or cope with the unexpected change. Things that look like rubbish to me might actually be important to her.

I will fold clean clothes but I will not put them away, she needs to do that herself so that she can find them. I will support with that it necessary. They go in a box for now, beside drawers.

When DD gets home today, I will suggest to her that we could spend 10 minutes tidying her room, later on.

If she is very resistant to this, “No, I’ve had a hard day” for example, fair enough. I will tell her “I need it to be done by Sunday night, give me a shout when you are ready”.

This will happen, maybe with the odd reminder of “let me know when you are ready”. She might need a lot of support and encouragement, she might need very little. This has taken a lot of time and practice.

She knows how that she feels calmer in a tidy room (this took a while for her to recognise too, she used to feel safer in a messy “nest”).

The drawers are all labelled (we did this together with a label maker, she has one and she loves making labels now). There are separations in some drawers - a part for pants, one for socks, one for swimwear. Nothing is assumed. She picked categories.

This was a work in progress for a while, we kept reviewing it together to see what helped, including changing furniture or choosing new storage solutions together.

Other boxes and drawers are labelled. “Art supplies” is too vague. “Coloured pencils/scissors/glue” is more helpful.

If she is struggling then we set a 10 minute timer (I promise to leave after 10 minutes and stick to that) and do it in parts. She might watch and I talk her through it but she doesn’t contribute much.

At the end, with a tidy base, she can easily hoover and wipe surfaces and always does that part.

As part of morning ticklist she makes her bed.

I still help with the evening “what do we need for tomorrow?” checklist, in means she knows where her clothes and supplies are in the morning, better for us all.

About 30 % of the time, these days, she will suddenly decide to tidy by herself and call out to me for fresh bedcovers and a bin bag, and our dirty clothes in the hall and ask me to take them. She will do a brilliant job and her room looks beautiful. This has taken time though and she isn’t always capable of this.

My daughter is what used to be described as “high functioning” (which is a bloody unhelpful label sometimes; she might be academically capable and masking whilst in the gutter with her mental health).

I help her because I love and respect her. I know what it feels like to struggle with the things others appear to find easy and to feel like a lazy failure (and that can definitely be covered with bravado or “rudeness” which is actually anxiety).

One day, in the “real world” my DD will use ten minute timers for herself. She might label things. She will have a system for period pants! But she will still “fail” in some areas and excel in others. I hope though that she will always be kind to herself and to any neurodivergent children that she has (and is statistically more likely to have).

This actually made me cry, ur daughter is very lucky to have u, my first thought was i wonder if u would come to my house and teach me! 😊 as a child unfortunately was way labeled the lazy one and not undiagnosed adhd.

Rainbowsandbutterflies1990 · 06/07/2023 17:59

Wanted to add my 4 year-old is very likely adhd herself , so I will remember this and really try and help her with your advice as I'm sure I will need to down the line when she is older.

Donotshushme · 07/07/2023 08:21

HeartbreakHigh · 06/07/2023 08:46

If you really want a solution OP, instead of just slagging your daughter off, I have a suggestion for you:

Once her room is tidy, so you have a clear and calm starting point, you set up a box with her. The box will contain 7 pairs of clean period pants and a mesh wash bag.

What your daughter will do is take the pants and put the dirty ones in mesh bag. You can pick them up throughout week or in one go, wash and put back in correct place.

Your DD will have clean pants. You might need to remind about this system for some time, and get her to put the used ones in there, without shaming her.

Re: public transport and being more independent in “some ways”. That is is great. It is also irrelevant to her bedroom.

I have a first class degree and am highly organised and competent in some areas of life. I also struggle to pack a suitcase or to meal plan, lose my keys on a regular basis and have a history of putting the wrong fuel in my car.

My 10 year is autistic and has ADHD. I have ADHD.

My DD needs a tidy calm room to help her in life as much as possible, to retreat from the world and to be able to find things.

However, left to her own devices she would end up in a “pig sty” and overwhelmed.

We have worked together over a couple of years with systems and support from me, and there are now periods where she will keep on top of her room really well. They are periods of her life where she is well regulated and coping in other areas.

When she is overwhelmed in general, this is reflected in the state of her room and her executive functioning skills are impaired in general.

At the moment, she is nearing “pig sty” mode.

Today, I will go into her room and remove obvious rubbish and dirty clothing - most of the dirty clothes will be in wash bin as we have worked on this over time, but there are bound to be a few clean things.

I will take them out - this is ongoing, as sometimes she takes the “I have worn it so it is dirty” approach, even to clothing such a jeans which aren’t dirty and could be worn again. Alternately, when she is attached to a particular item or clothing she might insist that it is not dirty, when it is.

We have agreed that I can take dirty clothes and rubbish when she is not there, this took time and trust though.

For me to tidy it all when she isn’t in is something that causes stress, even with good intentions, as she then can’t find her things or cope with the unexpected change. Things that look like rubbish to me might actually be important to her.

I will fold clean clothes but I will not put them away, she needs to do that herself so that she can find them. I will support with that it necessary. They go in a box for now, beside drawers.

When DD gets home today, I will suggest to her that we could spend 10 minutes tidying her room, later on.

If she is very resistant to this, “No, I’ve had a hard day” for example, fair enough. I will tell her “I need it to be done by Sunday night, give me a shout when you are ready”.

This will happen, maybe with the odd reminder of “let me know when you are ready”. She might need a lot of support and encouragement, she might need very little. This has taken a lot of time and practice.

She knows how that she feels calmer in a tidy room (this took a while for her to recognise too, she used to feel safer in a messy “nest”).

The drawers are all labelled (we did this together with a label maker, she has one and she loves making labels now). There are separations in some drawers - a part for pants, one for socks, one for swimwear. Nothing is assumed. She picked categories.

This was a work in progress for a while, we kept reviewing it together to see what helped, including changing furniture or choosing new storage solutions together.

Other boxes and drawers are labelled. “Art supplies” is too vague. “Coloured pencils/scissors/glue” is more helpful.

If she is struggling then we set a 10 minute timer (I promise to leave after 10 minutes and stick to that) and do it in parts. She might watch and I talk her through it but she doesn’t contribute much.

At the end, with a tidy base, she can easily hoover and wipe surfaces and always does that part.

As part of morning ticklist she makes her bed.

I still help with the evening “what do we need for tomorrow?” checklist, in means she knows where her clothes and supplies are in the morning, better for us all.

About 30 % of the time, these days, she will suddenly decide to tidy by herself and call out to me for fresh bedcovers and a bin bag, and our dirty clothes in the hall and ask me to take them. She will do a brilliant job and her room looks beautiful. This has taken time though and she isn’t always capable of this.

My daughter is what used to be described as “high functioning” (which is a bloody unhelpful label sometimes; she might be academically capable and masking whilst in the gutter with her mental health).

I help her because I love and respect her. I know what it feels like to struggle with the things others appear to find easy and to feel like a lazy failure (and that can definitely be covered with bravado or “rudeness” which is actually anxiety).

One day, in the “real world” my DD will use ten minute timers for herself. She might label things. She will have a system for period pants! But she will still “fail” in some areas and excel in others. I hope though that she will always be kind to herself and to any neurodivergent children that she has (and is statistically more likely to have).

You sound like an incredible mother. I wish id had this approach instead of being told I'm lazy and that my room was a fucking pigsty as a child.

HeartbreakHigh · 07/07/2023 09:02

@Donotshushme , @Rainbowsandbutterflies1990 , @Runnerduck34 - Thank you, that’s very kind feedback 😊

My parenting style comes very much from wanting to be the opposite of my own mother 🙈

I never want my DC to feel the way I frequently did when I was growing up.

Even now, as an adult who is diagnosed, medicated and has a supportive DH (who actually pulls a bit more than his weight with tidying, but appreciates that I have other strengths), I don’t think that feeling of shame will ever leave me, when it comes to the things I can’t do well.

The other day, one of my DC’s friends came around for the day. She was here to spend the day with my DC as her mum was working away and it was strike day.

When she walked in through my front door, I straightaway said to her, “Please ignore the state of the house, I’ve been working a lot but I am going to tidy today as I’ve got some time now”.

The child said “that’s okay” and looked at me in a slightly flummoxed way.

I then thought “I’ve just apologised to a 12 year old for not being tidy enough, what is WRONG with me?” 😂 (and the house wasn’t that bad, just everyday family stuff and laundry I needed to sort)

But, it’s just ingrained now that I “fail” at this stuff.

The weird thing is, my DM was spotless and so organised as I was growing up. Surely she could have helped me out?! Okay, we didn’t know I had ADHD but it was obvious I had issues organising myself.

She just left my room like that most of the time all through my childhood, with “Oh she is SO messy”, in the same way that I was “so dramatic” or just “you know what’s she like” with an eye roll.

I pop into all my DCs rooms as I pass and give a 2 minute tidy, why wouldn’t I? (And life is then is easier for me too).

I’m certainly not super organised, I used to hate myself when DC were younger, for somehow losing their PE kits in the wash, for forgetting to send those paper slips back for letters for school etc… and my own drawers and wardrobe certainly aren’t as organised now as my DDs, to say the least, I should take a left out of my own book !

But, I have put everything I have got into researching and educating myself about autism and ADHD and how to support my daughter emotionally , whether it’s from books, professionals, joining parent groups online or in person, and it will be over my dead body that she grows up hating herself because her brain works differently from what is accepted as “normal”, or feeling as if she is less than.

weirdoboelady · 07/07/2023 10:44

To all those out there like me, with untidy houses, (possibly undiagnosed) ADHD and similar...

Just to say it took me until well into my forties to realise how much I like untidy people. Don't get me wrong, I love and envy tidy houses, but when I walk into a chaotic one I normally know I am going to love the owner.

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