Scatterbrained, Disorganized, Harried

mantori.suzuki
Tue, 19 May 2009 22:17:26 +0000

Just looking for a sympathetic ear.

Tomorrow my son finishes his Junior year of high school. Although he is very, very bright and a fine young man, he falls well short of his potential because he is incredibly scatterbrained and disorganized with his schoolwork. He is usually wide-eyed and breathless about being late, or nearly late, turning in an assignment or writing a paper or studying for an exam. And when it’s not that, it’s being dejected because he’s four days behind and utterly overwhelmed.

Fortunately, he has enough natural talent that he gets good (not great, but good) grades in spite of his inability to get his act together. And his test scores are very high and his extracurricular activities many and varied, so I’m not worried that he won’t get into a good college.

The thing that worries me is how much it worries me! I get mentally exhausted just hearing about his troubles at school. I’ve tried for years to help him get better organized, to learn how to plan his time, etc., but it’s as though his brain just isn’t wired for it. I’ll be so glad when high school is over!

That’s all. Just wondering if anyone else has the same experience, and maybe some tips for letting go and not worrying so much about it. (Which is getting harder, by the way, the closer we get to submitting college applications!) (Yes, I said we, not he. You can see part of my problem here…I’m too involved!)