I have an 8 year old daughter that is an emotional wreck. She is constantly forgetting things and always a mess. I am always having to remind her of things and helping her find the things she has lost. She cries at the drop of a hat. Does anyone know if this is normal? My 4 year old is more responsible than the 8 year old. Some of her teachers have asked if she is border line ADD. I have never had her tested but it seems as if I can not get her to focus or do a really good job. Any suggestions?
You should check with your pediatrician. Often children that have ADD know that they are not in control of themselves and revert to tantrums and emotional behavior that you tend to see in your children. Your pediatrician should be able to better evaluate and make recommendations, but as a teacher I can tell you that teachers are very good at picking up on issues. Good luck.
I have a son who is now 11 and is just like your daughter. He is emotional due to the fact that his father walked out on him and our family. I take him to a counsiler and karate. These activities seem to be helping a little. Good luck wwith her, I know how difficult this is.
I'm not sure if this will help or not, but I have an 8yo boy who was having trouble settling down and focusing on his work at school. A friend recommended a holistic treatment for ADD or ADHD. A cup of coffee in the morning before school. These kids brains need to be stimulated before they can settle down. My son likes mocha in the morning (half hot chocolate and half coffee). Supposedly the caffeine works as well as 100mg of Ritalin. I don't know if that is actually the case or not but it was night and day for my son. It worked immediately. I wrote his teacher a note to let her know what I was doing and she called on her lunch break that day to tell me what a wonderful difference it had made. Hope this helps. Jo
Hi V.,
My daughter went through and is still going through the exact same thing. What I found to help was to speak to her like a little adult. If I raise my voice, she just shuts me out and things only get worse with the crying or with the mess.
Regarding school work, I have hired a teacher to teach her all summer long, as well as once a week. I found that my daughter just lacked the confidence in her knowledge and ability. Prior to working on this with my daughter, she would have poor grades in school since she never paid attention, never wrote down her homework assignments, thus never doing them. It caused a snowball effect. One on one attention outside of school with a teacher can really do wonders.
Another thing that has helped is a very strict schedule of where she puts her things after school, a set homework time, a set bedtime, etc. I can't say it has helped out much for her messy room, but it has helped tremendously with school. I find that when I get lazy with her schedule, things get out of control.
If you want to chat more about it, let me know.
Hi V.,
I too am a mom of 4 and 8 year old daughters. My 8 year old is also significantly more emotional than my younger daughter. My oldest is in constant need of reminding of what she needs to do next. She flies into a tantrum or tears at the drop of a hat. She's always been sensitive, but never like this until recently. The whole ADD thing has never been mentioned but it has been suggested to me that all outward signs (physical and emotional) point towards early puberty. At this point, I don't know which would be better. Her yearly physical is approaching and I plan on discussing her behavorial changes. I wish I had some ideas for you on how to handle her, maybe we will both get some good advice from some of the other moms.
Good Luck.
Not sure if this will help - but I know that flylady.net has some routines for children that may be of help to get her feeling back in control!
Good luck -
B.
