When You're Too Tired to "Do It Right": Why It's Okay to Just Get Through the Day

I Should’t Dread 15:30… But Today, I Do.

Today I’m sick.

The kind of sick that’s already made its way through the whole family, where I cared and nurtured them all and now it’s my turn.

I’m wiped. My body aches. My brain feels like mush.

And as I sit here writing this post, I know that in just a few minutes, at exactly 15:30, the front door will swing open…

And in will come my beautiful, sensitive, unpredictable, very loud children.

Usually, I try to meet them where they are. To support the chaos and dysregulation in a way that doesn’t add fuel to the fire. To stay calm and help them do the same.

But today? I don’t have it in me.
No patience. No energy. No buffer.

If you’ve been there, on the days when just surviving the afternoon feels impossible, I want you to know two things:

You’re not failing. You’re doing the best you can.
ADHD parenting is intense on a good day. When your own resources are depleted, of course it feels like too much.

It’s okay to lower the bar.
Sometimes, surviving is success. On days like today, I try to remind myself: I don’t need to be magical. I just need to be good enough.

So, today, we’re skipping structured homework time.
We’ll do screen time with zero guilt.
Dinner will likely be toast or cereal.
And instead of trying to fix anything, I’ll focus on keeping the peace, in whatever way I can.

This is parenting, too.
That’s real. That’s enough.

If you’ve ever felt like you just needed permission to not be a superhero, then this is me giving it to you. I guess it also me giving it to myself today because I certainly need it.

If your afternoons often feel like this, unpredictable, draining, and overwhelming, I’ve created something that can help.

Download my free guide: The Ultimate Guide to ADHD Mornings, Homework, and Bedtime — it’s full of practical strategies to make these tricky parts of the day more manageable.

You won’t be perfect.
You won’t be Instagram-worthy.
But they will be doable.

Grab your copy here: The Ultimate Guide to ADHD Morning, Homework and Bedtime

Because your child doesn’t need a perfect parent.
Just one who keeps showing up, even on the hardest days.