How can I meet my child's needs if I have adult ADD?

If you have adult attention deficit disorder (ADD), develop a strategy to spend as little time as possible on activities with your kids that you don't like and as much time as possible on activities that you do. One strategy you can use that will work miracles is to respond to your child's request to play with, "Yes, for five minutes." By keeping an activity short, you can meet your child's needs and at the same time honor your own. Your child's attention span is short, too -- when five minutes are up a child will often be satisfied enough for you to get up and attend to your own needs.

Even if a child protests when the time is up, you can simply redirect him to continue playing independently. The five minutes you spend with your child in the activity (playing hide-and-seek, reading) most likely would have otherwise been spent negotiating, arguing, or disciplining the child for negative behavior. Thus, this strategy leads to a win-win situation: your child gets some playtime and you don't have to spend that time -- or even more -- managing your child's disappointment.