For cleaning tips for the girls, you might want to check out flylady.net for ideas on scheduling managable chores with children, helping them get through 15 minutes at a time.
Alicia's behaviour is normal even for an adult like me; you can't just tell me to clean up, I can see all the mess and can't sort it out in my head. I really have to struggle to clean things, every single day. Even for my 11 year old, I have really specific tasks, and she doesn't have ADD. "Brush Dog X with Brush Y for 5 minutes" gets done. "Brush one of the dogs" never does.
Making a game of it with Julie might help her keep focused. Has she had her vision tested? Not being able to see easily might affect her concentration. A simple thing to do with her might be to give her a basket and have her find 5-10 things out of place in the room, put them in her basket, and then put them where they belong. Again, I totally empathize with Julie. I have anxiety disorder that mimics ADD/ADHD, or I have both, we're not sure, but the anxiety must be treated first. Good luck with the girls; it's good to see you both being gentle with them about it and not just dismissing it as bad behaviour.
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Date: 2005-12-10 04:51 pm (UTC)Alicia's behaviour is normal even for an adult like me; you can't just tell me to clean up, I can see all the mess and can't sort it out in my head. I really have to struggle to clean things, every single day. Even for my 11 year old, I have really specific tasks, and she doesn't have ADD. "Brush Dog X with Brush Y for 5 minutes" gets done. "Brush one of the dogs" never does.
Making a game of it with Julie might help her keep focused. Has she had her vision tested? Not being able to see easily might affect her concentration. A simple thing to do with her might be to give her a basket and have her find 5-10 things out of place in the room, put them in her basket, and then put them where they belong. Again, I totally empathize with Julie. I have anxiety disorder that mimics ADD/ADHD, or I have both, we're not sure, but the anxiety must be treated first. Good luck with the girls; it's good to see you both being gentle with them about it and not just dismissing it as bad behaviour.