June 14, 2023

Now that school’s finally over, is your family exhaling a collective sigh of relief? No more harried mornings, frustrating homework sessions, or arguments about bedtime. Time to kick back into the free and easy mode, right? Not exactly. Just because you’ve eliminated school from daily life doesn’t mean there aren’t new summer routines and activities to plan for and adjust to. Perhaps, after a few days of rest and relaxation, family conflicts start to arise. Arguments about screen time, household chores, and curfews can quickly escalate into massive, unpleasant explosions. Maybe the Blobdom-Boredom Matrix has already started to set in: when screen time is over, your child or teen complains about having nothing to do. How can you collaborate as a family to balance different needs and have a satisfying summer? 

Despite their claims for disliking schedules or feeling choked by plans, many neurodivergent kids, especially those with ADHD, benefit from a sense of purpose and some structure to their days along with open-ended time to space out. Having a place to go and something to do keeps them engaged mentally, physically, and socially. Setting up a collaborative summer routine that establishes screen time limits, encourages physical…