I've struggled to get Patrick to do things without being told...5 or 10 times. I know that I should get on him much, much sooner, but even I forget about the tasks. And he can only be told to do one thing at a time. And I feel like I'm always always telling him to do things. Or not do things, as the case may be. I just don't want to harp on it. I feel like I'm always trying to push him down, to get him to stop moving, stop interrupting, stop goofing off. It wears on me.
Let me site some examples. I have him do sock patrol in the living room because somehow some way socks accumulate there. Tonight he picked them up, but he went right past (over) a sock in the hallway to the bedrooms. Another time I told him that it's his responsibility to empty the garbage cans in the other rooms. The bathroom one was overflowing so I told him to empty it and make sure to pick up the garbage on the floor around it. The second time I told him, he did take the can to the kitchen, but he didn't bring the can bank into the bathroom. And he didn't pick up the trash on the floor. So later I told him to get it back in the bathroom. And for some reason, it ended up in his bedroom. <sigh> I told him again to put the can in the bathroom and pick up the garbage around it. So he brought the can back and put half the garbage from the floor into it. <sigh> Please pick up the rest of the garbage and also the garbage on the counter. Once the garbage on the floor was picked up, how about the stuff on the counter?
I signed Patrick up for piano lessons. The place we go is fantastic, and the teacher is absolutely wonderful. But within the first ten minutes of class, I'm so mad for having to motion to him so many times to calm down, to stop it, to listen....I'd have him drop out at the end of the semester if it wasn't such a good thing for him. We both love it and he's good at it. (His dad has a boatload of natural talent that I'm hoping Patrick inherited!) The teacher handles him well by ignoring as much as he can and trying to ease him into the right action. At home, if I don't sit with him while he practices, he only plays for about 3 minutes. And then he's done! Yes, Mom, I practiced it all. When I sit with him, it's routinely 20 to 30 minutes.
Can you imagine how the homework goes?! I tell him to look at his planner and decide what to do. And on and on until it's time to pack up the backpack. By then, I just do it.
I have to be with him constantly if I want his homework done. His chores. His piano practice. There's no self-starter capability being exercised here. When will it end? When will he accept the responsibility?! When-I-teach-him. When-he's-old-enough. I've heard that other ADHD kids are like this, but it's making me nutty.
If anyone has any tips to solve this it would be great. Yes, I could just follow him around until things are done, but I've done that in his room. It hasn't worked.
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