No mom, I didn’t brush my teeth.

It never fails, on the days when I forget to brush my teeth my mom asks, “Did you brush your teeth?  At this point, I’m already late for school. I definitely don’t have time to run back in and take care of business.

As a kid with ADHD do you forget to do basic things ? Like closing the cupboard door you just opened,  putting away the milk or brushing your teeth in the morning? It can get pretty frustrating always forgetting things. On top of that, not everyone in my life is patient like my mom. 

Research

I did some research into why kids with ADHD are so forgetful.

Our brains have something called Executive Function which helps it stay on track and not get distracted by other tasks at hand. Being a kid with ADHD means that my brain has limited space for all the little details, or working memory, that I need to remember while going about my day. 

An awesome way to explain working memory is by thinking of your brain as a whiteboard you use to write things down and remember them. ADHD brains just have really huge handwriting so they keep having to erase the whiteboard to remember new stuff! 

Simply put, there are a million other things racing through my brain in the morning. Like what am I having for breakfast or where did I put my house keys? Multitasking is the real culprit here. 

Checklists

Hey, it is not the end of the world to go to school or work with grungy teeth, although I’m thinking it would help with my social life a bit more. When I was younger I put a poster on the back of the bathroom door with a check list.

✅  Teeth

✅ Wallet

✅ Homework

It turns out, checklists are not the only way kids with ADHD deal with forgetfulness. Other tools and tricks like fun memory exercises could even help in getting your teeth brushed every morning. 

What strategies are you using to remember the basics?

Tell you what, now that I’ve written this I’m less likely to forget to brush, is there something else you would like me to write about?  Did this help?

Till next time,

~ jeff