[monster]

Are you relating these issues to his diagnoses? Sounds like a fairly normal 11yo to me apart from the school thing. Can you meet with a counsellor at the school?

I have yet to meet a 11 year-old who regularly puts clothes in the hamper. But mine (of that age) have to get permission to play video games etc, and making sure all their laundry is in the hamper is often one of the conditions on permission. So it gets done eventually.

If mine stopped answering their phones, they'd be grounded because that's a safety issue, but then I would only call in an emergency. How often do you call that he doesn't answer? Perhaps he just needs a little longer leash -he'll be going to high school soon, no?

Do you know why he is late home? Is it deliberate to piss you off? Or does he just have difficulty keeping track of time? Thor (12) has difficulty keeping track of time, so he sets alarms on his phone for when it's time to stop/leave. works pretty well. Especially when we give him the responsibility of deciding how long he should allow for packing up etc. And we make sure he knows how pleased we are when he does it well.

Was the TV deliberate? Was it a traceable consequence of his ADHD? Accidents do happen and sometimes they are expensive. Parenting is expensive -in time, patience and money. Some battles are not worth fighting

My gut answer is to reduce your own stress/frustration by making the path slightly less straight and narrow, just so long as there are railings by any steep drop-offs. If you are unhappy, he will pick up on it, and sometimes it's harder to do the right thing if you already don't feel good about yourself.

If the leash is too tight, it cuts off circulation and induces panic.

/metphoricalhippiemommoment