Hi, I’m Mary.
I’m the mom behind Calm Home Parenting. I live with my husband and two kids in a house where everyone, including me, has ADHD.
Why I Started This Site
For years, I went looking online for help with the actual hard parts of parenting an ADHD kid. Not the cute stuff. The meltdown at 4:47 p.m. that seems to come from nowhere. The homework battle that ends with both of us in tears. The executive function wall I hit trying to plan a Tuesday.
What I kept finding was one of two things:
- Sterile clinical articles written by people who had clearly never been on the floor of a grocery store with a dysregulated seven-year-old.
- Affiliate blogs selling me “the best 10 fidgets for ADHD” without any context about what actually helps or why.
Neither was what I needed.
So I started writing down what I was learning, one careful experiment at a time. What the research actually says. What I tried at home. What worked. What blew up in my face. What my husband and I are still figuring out.
Calm Home Parenting is the resource I wish I had found five years ago.
What You’ll Find Here
Research-backed parenting strategies. I cite real sources: CHADD, the CDC, Dr. Russell Barkley, Dr. Dan Siegel, Dr. Ross Greene, peer-reviewed journals. When I don’t have a source, I say so.
Honest product recommendations. When I recommend a fidget tool, sensory product, or Pikler triangle, it is because someone in my house has used it. I will also tell you what we didn’t love. If I have an affiliate relationship, you will see a clear disclosure.
Free tools and printables. Downloadable calm-down cards, IEP meeting scripts, morning routine charts. Most are free. Some are in my Etsy shop when they took me a long time to design and I can’t give them away.
Permission to be messy. You are not going to do this perfectly. Neither am I. This site is a place for the real version.
What I Am, And What I’m Not
I am:
- A parent with ADHD, raising kids with ADHD
- A researcher by instinct. I read peer-reviewed articles for fun, which may itself be an ADHD thing
- A writer who has spent years learning what works for neurodivergent families
I am not:
- A licensed therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, or medical doctor
- A replacement for the professionals who know your specific child
- A believer in one-size-fits-all parenting advice
Every kid is different. Every family is different. I share what the research says and what has worked in my house. You know your child better than anyone. Take what’s useful, leave the rest.
My Promise
I will not:
- Recommend a product I don’t believe in because it pays well
- Make up statistics to sound credible
- Shame you for where you are today
- Pretend to have it all figured out
I will:
- Cite my sources, or say when I don’t have one
- Share the strategies that have actually helped in our house
- Tell you when something didn’t work
- Keep the tone warm, because nobody needs another condescending parenting site
Say Hello
I read every email. You can reach me at [email protected].
If a post helped you, or if you have a question, I want to hear it.
If you want the free Emergency ADHD Parent Survival Kit, the PDF with the scripts, calm-down cards, and end-of-day check-in we use in our house, you can grab it below.
, Mary