u/Kathwino

Does anyone else feel like they have to really graft at taking care of themselves. Like I really have to force myself to get out of bed, see to the kids, take my meds, remember to eat and drink, get an early night, show up for work, tidy the house.

And ultimately doing all these things makes me feel better and a more fulfilled person, but the whole time until my meds kick in its like I'm fighting against the ADHD that's kicking and screaming, telling me to go back to sleep, fuck it all off, quit my job, go on a bender. I will literally get ready for the day in tears some days but then once I've woken up properly, I feel great lmao. I feel like I'm always resisting the ADHD urge to ruin my life and chase dopamine.

While I was making a brew this morning I had the thought, I can understand why people used to think they had actual demons inside them. It definitely feels like that some days.

My kids are about 18 months apart and my oldest will start school in September 2027. I know we have a while to think about it but with childcare wait lists being so outrageous recently I wanted to get ahead of it.

Both my kids attend a private nursery at the moment with its own preschool, where my oldest will stay until she goes to school. At that point I'm debating what to do with my youngest. I thought we could apply for a place in the school nursery where my oldest is going, so that we're not doing 2 separate drop offs a day. But even then it will leave us needing wraparound care for my oldest, as we work 9-5.

My next idea is that we could put the youngest with a childminder, and have the childminder do the wraparound care for my oldest as well, drop off and pickup. But I don't have any experience with childminders, is that something they typically will offer?

Open to other ideas and suggestions really from more experienced grown ups!

2 year old has been getting up around 5am for the past few days and won't go back to sleep no matter what we do. This morning it was 4! She's always been an early riser but I've got to draw the line, I need my beauty sleep.

We have blackout curtains but the light creeps around the edges. Do those temporary paper blackout blinds help?