ADHD Summer Survival: 5 Things Saving My Life Right Now

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Surviving summer with an ADHD kid? Here are five small, real-life things saving my sanity right now, plus a pep talk for when nothing feels like it's helping.

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It's week five of summer and you're holding on for dear life. Same. Here are the small, ordinary things keeping me afloat this ADHD summer, and why noticing what's working can shift a hard season.

This one's a little different. Instead of a behavior or a strategy, I'm sharing the five things quietly saving my life this summer: independent outdoor play, my beloved air fryer, a hands-on project that gets me out of the house, nighttime reading, and a grab-and-go protein breakfast. Some are big, some are tiny, all of them are real. Underneath the list is a practice I want you to steal for any hard season with an ADHD kid: pausing long enough to notice what's actually holding you up, not just what's going wrong. I close with a pep talk for the parent who feels like nothing is saving their life right now.

Inside this episode

The practice of asking "what's saving my life right now," and why we rarely stop to notice what's working.Why independent outdoor play is a win for your kid's confidence and your own mental break.The air fryer (and paper plates) that make fast, low-cleanup summer meals possible when you work from home.Why a hands-on project of my own in a different space gives me a reset without needing a full day off.Reading at night as a no-guilt escape, no deep literary credit required.The grab-and-go high-protein breakfast that takes the morning off my plate.A mini pep talk and the one-small-thing practice for when it feels like nothing is helping.

Timestamps

00:00 Week five of summer and holding on for dear life
 01:02 Why noticing what works matters, and the practice behind this episode
 02:51 Independent outdoor play
 07:10 Fast, low-cleanup meals with the air fryer
 09:59 A hands-on project of your own for a reset
 12:20 Reading as a nightly escape
 13:59 A high-protein breakfast shortcut
 15:59 A pep talk for when nothing feels like it's saving your life
 18:26 The one small thing to notice today

Read the full transcript

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2531405/19372851-adhd-summer-survival-5-things-saving-my-life-right-now/transcript

Mentioned in this episode

The Lazy Genius Podcast with Kendra Adachi, the inspiration for this format

One thing to do next

Get short, practical Raising ADHD™ reframes in your inbox each week, the kind you can read in under five minutes and use the same day. Join my email list at raisingadhd.org.

Resources and related episodes

Ep10: ADHD and Friendships, Why Your Child Struggles to Fit In
Ep34: The Best Daily Routine for a Child With ADHD (Summer Edition)
Ep9: The ADHD Bedtime Battle
Find me on Instagram: @raisingadhd_org

Hosts

I'm Apryl Bradford, a former classroom teacher with a master's in education and mom raising a child with ADHD, alongside my husband Dr. Brian Bradford, a child and adolescent psychiatrist.