Please or to access all these features

Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Struggling with son..

1 reply

Lifegoeson2025 · 01/01/2026 10:57

Son is 9 years old. Dad left in April…very suddenly…got with a woman he works with straight after. Been a tough year. My son has always been a handful, but I’m really struggling. Ex has the kids for 6 hours on a Saturday so he never has to deal with anything, whereas I get the brunt of everything. I work full time and do everything for the kids-cook, clean, buy their clothes, attend school meetings/performances. Take them on holiday, opticians, doctors, dentist.

My son:

-answers back
-never does anything first time
-TELLS ME what I can and can’t do
-demands things
-becomes angry instantly (he was shouting at 1am last night off because he wanted his Nintendo). He was only up because of NY
-He swears
-Lies
-refuses to do homework
-refuses to tidy his room
-everything is on his terms.

I feel like I have no control at all. He is waiting to be assessed for ADHD but even if he does have it, nothing in my life will change. Every day is a battle. How can a 9 year old love me so much but treat me like dirt?

OP posts:
SleafordSods · 01/01/2026 11:02

I really feel for you OP, parenting a DC with ADHD is hard, even without everything else you have going on.

Does he have any support through the school to help him with how he's feeling after his DF left?

Does he have an ECHP?

And what strategies does he have to help with his ADHD?

New posts on this thread. Refresh page