Is it still okay to feel sad? Angry? Exhausted?

Yes. Please hear this: you’re allowed to feel it all.

Finding out your child has ADHD can come with relief — but also grief, guilt, overwhelm, and a thousand questions you didn’t expect. Maybe you suspected for a while. Maybe it blindsided you. Either way, it’s a lot.

You might feel heartbroken over how long your child struggled without the right help. You might be angry at teachers, doctors, or even yourself. You might feel bone-deep tired from years of surviving meltdowns, appointments, and systems that never quite fit.

You don’t have to pretend to be grateful 24/7.

You can love your child fiercely and still feel scared or unsure. You can believe in their strengths and still worry about the future. Both things can be true.

What matters is what you do next — not whether you had a perfect emotional response.

So yes. It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to yell into a pillow. It’s okay to need support for you, too. Because parenting a neurodivergent child isn’t just a diagnosis for them. It’s a shift for the whole family. And the more honest we are about that, the less alone we feel.