I have 2 ADHD kids too (mine are BOTH hyper). I too get soooooo worn out by the constant fights. My 11 yr. old daughter is very oppositional and will fight with a rock if given the chance. She instigates and demands perfection from herself and everyone around her. My 9 yr. old son, on the other hand, is pretty compliant ( except when it comes to eating healthy foods and wearing his clothes right-side-out, etc...he's a little eccentric) but he has explosive emotions. He'll go from 0-60 in 2 seconds flat. That's both with anger, usually towards his unrelenting sister, or with tears over how the kids at school teased him THIS time. It is so sad. Thankfully, we have a 6 yr. old boy who so far seems to have not inherited the "mental" gene!

I wish I had some good tried and true advice to give you, but the best I can do is to empathize and tell you about a couple of really good books I've read. One is called the Steps to Effective Parenting Workbook by Gary McKay and Don Dinkmeyer. The other is called "The Explosive Child" by Russ Greene. They are both excellent and have brought more peace to our turbulent household. The workbook helped me especially learn how to "let go" of my kids' problems that were not my own and how to remain calm when they are acting out of control. The other book gave me a much better understanding of what is going on inside their heads and emotions and therefore gave me more tools to deal with them positively.

There is another fantastic website that offers unparalleled help to parents of ADHD kids. It's www.celebratecalm.com. Hope you get some of your much-needed help! Debi

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