"She's been disruptive, always wanting to play with her friends instead of paying attention."
"She keeps losing her homework, after we spent an hour working on it the night before."
"She seems to zone out, and daydreams during class to the point where we aren't sure if she's even listening."
These are just some of the things that we've been hearing for the last couple of months, and then the teacher finally called us in for a parent-teacher conference. My step-daughter, who's 7 years old, has been disruptive, failing assignments, and completely disregarding authority. It isn't just at school either. Here at home, she's been forgetful, defiant, and, well, a brat. I hate to put it in such a harsh way, but something has to give. It's been a nightmare trying to relate to her lately, and getting her to follow directions has been nearly impossible.
I'll give you an example. Every night at 7:30, I tell her to put on her pajamas and brush her teeth. Bedtime is at 8 (we get up early and kids need sleep) so I give her half an hour to wind down and realize it's time to go to bed. So, she'll go in her room, and ten minutes later come back out with pajamas on. Without brushing her teeth. "I forgot," she'll say. Really?? In ten minutes time, you forgot to do one of the two things I told you to do? "I was playing." Ugh!
She's so easily distracted that we often have to remind her to eat during supper, because she'll drift off into daydream world and forget what she was doing.
We've tried counseling. We've tried rigorous schedules. I think it's time to seek profession (medical) help to see if there is an underlying problem.
That's why I've written this post. Our thoughts are leaning toward ADD/ADHD but have hard such a hard time finding a diagnosis because girls do not exhibit the classic signs quite like boys do. Here's a list of what to look for if you think your daughter may have an attention disorder (note: I'm not a medical professional and am just sharing what I've learned along the way. If you have questions, please consult your child's pediatrician):
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