Mom Culture® / Motherhood + Midlife
The ADHD Toolkit.
A little understanding. A lot more grace. Real-life tools and resources for brains that are still winging it.
You don't need expensive shit or the latest fad to manage your ADHD. Sometimes the tools you already have are enough.
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01 / My story
When everything got louder.
I've lived with ADHD most of my life. For years I managed motherhood, a business, and approximately 47 things at once. Then around 38, the overwhelm started feeling different. Between three kids, running the Mom Culture warehouse, virtual school, and hormonal shifts, my old systems stopped working the way they used to.
Getting re-evaluated at 40 helped me understand that I didn't need a new personality. I needed a better understanding of my brain.
Same ADHD brain. Same headphones. A whole lot more self-awareness.
02 / The hidden costs
Let's talk about the ADHD tax.
It's the extra money, time, energy, and stress ADHD can cost you. Not a literal tax, although I would love to submit a reimbursement request.
Late fees and missed returns.
Searching, restarting, and redoing.
Frustration, guilt, and overwhelm.
It isn't a personal failure. Understanding the pattern can help us build kinder, simpler systems.
Real-life ADHD tax moments
How I lower my ADHD tax: the Sunday reset
A quick fridge, freezer, and pantry check before I shop. Fewer duplicates, less mystery produce.
What my reset actually looks like ↓
I build meals around what we have and order online so I can review my cart before buying another duplicate. Aldi weekly, Target or Walmart for household gaps, and Costco monthly. Not perfect—just less waste and fewer surprises.
03 / Things I actually use
What helps my brain (and might help yours, too).
No magic fixes. No expensive overhaul. Just a few things that make everyday life a little easier.
The 15-minute visual timer
Sometimes starting is the hardest part. Fifteen minutes makes it feel doable.
Visual planning
Daily, weekly, and monthly plans I can actually see.
Headphones + Loop earplugs
Music for focus; Loop for turning down the background noise.
Touch it once
Less shuffling things from pile to pile.
How I use this ↓
Before I put something down, I try to decide where it belongs or what happens next. Quick task? Handle it. Bigger task? Schedule it or give it a designated home. The goal isn’t to do everything immediately—it’s to stop moving the same thing between five different piles.
Thinking Putty
Something for my hands to do when I need to focus or settle restless energy.
04 / Resource hub
People and resources that helped things click.
Watch + read
Jessica McCabe / How to ADHD
Practical tools, accessible explanations, and finally understanding the ADHD tax.
Explore How to ADHD ↗Learn + understand
Dr. Sasha Hamdani
Understanding ADHD with more grace, especially in women and around hormones.
Explore her resources ↗Listen + read
Kim Dean + Penn Holderness
Authors of ADHD Is Awesome: A Guide to (Mostly) Thriving with ADHD and hosts of The Holderness Family Podcast. Humor, honest conversations, and useful perspective on life with ADHD.
Explore their book + podcast ↗Personal story
ADHD and perimenopause
What changed for me around 40, and why I started looking for answers.
Read my ADHD story →05 / Midlife plot twists
ADHD + hormones.
Your brain. Your hormones. The plot thickens.
Hormonal transitions can affect how ADHD symptoms feel for some women. Research is growing, but questions remain about the timing and biology of perimenopause in women with ADHD.
Did you know? / What the research says
of women with ADHD in a 2025 cohort study reported severe perimenopausal symptoms, compared with 30.1% of women without ADHD.
The age group where the study found the largest difference in perimenopausal symptom scores between women with and without ADHD.
of premenopausal survey participants with ADHD who were not using hormone therapy reported ADHD symptom changes across their menstrual cycle.
These findings describe specific study groups, not every woman with ADHD. Earlier symptoms do not necessarily prove an earlier biological start to perimenopause. Research is still developing.
Sources: 2025 population-based cohort study (5,392 women) ↗ · 2026 hormonal life stages survey (600 participants) ↗
For years, I thought I was suddenly getting worse at managing the same brain I’d always had. Turns out, hormones may have been another piece of the puzzle. And seeing researchers finally study what so many women have been describing? It’s about damn time.
Still figuring it out. Still winging it.
Some days the systems work. Some days I lose my phone while wearing the watch that can find it. The point isn't perfection. It's a little less shame and a few more tools in our back pockets.
xo, Sarah
Read my ADHD story →Read my HRT update →
Personal experience and educational resources, not medical advice. Some links may be affiliate links.