Parenting on Hard Mode: The Boss Level Nobody Warned Us About

Some days, parenting feels like a video game. You think you’re on the tutorial level—easy quests like “get kid dressed” or “make breakfast.” Then suddenly, you realize you’ve been dropped straight into boss mode, armed only with coffee and questionable patience.

For parents of kids with ADHD, every day is hard mode.

• Brushing teeth? That’s a side quest involving three negotiations, two distractions, and one meltdown about toothpaste flavor.
• Homework? More like a raid battle where the enemy is boredom and the loot is a half-finished worksheet.
• Bedtime? It’s the final boss who respawns every five minutes with new excuses: “I’m thirsty,” “I forgot my stuffed animal,” “I need to tell you something important about Minecraft.”

But here’s the twist—hard mode isn’t just chaos. It’s creativity. It’s resilience. It’s learning to laugh when your kid builds a Lego tower instead of putting on pants. It’s realizing that the “straight man” in your household (hi, spouse) is the one keeping the party alive while you and your kid improvise through the dungeon.

Parenting on hard mode means:

• You celebrate small wins like they’re epic achievements.
• You adapt faster than any speedrunner.
• You discover humor is your best weapon.

It’s exhausting, yes. But it’s also the most human, messy, and strangely beautiful version of parenting. And if you’re here reading this, you’re probably playing the same game. Welcome to the guild.