I have a SD 12 that has lived with us for 2 years. She also has ADHD and is on Ritalin. I completely understand and sympathize with your complaints. That is just what goes with ADHD. They cannot stay focused on any one task. As annoying and time consuming as it may be, we still have to "stay on them" and keep repeting ourselves. In the last 2 years I have seen my SD grow out of alot of her issues,but she still has lots. Everyday is a challenge. Some days are worse than others.
As far as the lunch box. I would send him with abrown bag lunch or in a plastic bag, that way you are not losing the lunch box. Also, with my SD, since she has been on her medication(1 month) she has experienced an appitite loss. That may be the same with your son. Something you may want to look into.

I believe this is totally normal behavior for an 8-year-old. ADHD is overdiagnsed and overtreated. I suggest the book Bringing Up Boys by Dr. James Dobson. It has helped us a great deal.

and " I forget" is almost his matra. He loves looking at himself in the mirror & can occupy himself for quite some time. I find all sorts of fingerprints on my big fancy mirror in the dining room.

Probably his ADD plays into it, but some of it may be just little boy behavior.

I know that I have to stay on top of him & not allow the TV to be on while he is getting ready.

My SD, 10, is the same way. She doesn't have ADHD....I think its just a kid thing!!

Her mantra isn't "I forget," its "I WAS JUST ABOUT TO!!" I ask her to brush her teeth, then I put on my coat, go downstairs, start the car to warm it up, come back upstairs, and she's sitting on her bed reading a magazine. I say, "Did you brush your teeth yet?" She YELLS, "I was just about to!" and stomps off and slams the door.

I think the forgetting to do things is a kid thing. The slamming, stomping and yelling is probably a hormonal girl thing (she just started her period 2 months ago).

I think when they're about 18 it might get better.

is he getting immune to his meds? My daughter's psychiatrist said sometimes when a child take a medication long enough they can grow immune to the dosage so he has kids that he has to switch medications on every 3 or 4 months....I'm not saying thats the case...maybe it's from all the stress and tension in the house? I noticed with my daughter that if something is stressing her out her ADHD gets worse. But as the others said it could be just a kid thing...

still has to be prodded constantly to brush her teeth, wash her hair, brush her hair, keep wet towels off the floor, etc. etc. Don't sweat it -- it's normal. If the child is being defiant or this is becoming a test of wills, you might try consequences.

My brother used to forget his homework every morning -- we went to private school, and Mom had to drive back home to get it. It was the same thing every day after school. Drove me crazy. My brother now has his Ph.D. Go figure.

sorry, don't have a solution...but the whole lunchbox thing sounds like my DH!! lol.and he's 31!! LOL. My nieces/nephews are the same way - they're 12, 14, and 16. about the lunchbox..he'll HAVE to eat. i'm sure if you stop packing his lunch...he'll have no choice but to eat the food from school (hunger will do that to you -- if he doesn't eat...let it be a lesson for him to learn by himself that he needs to eat during lunch...you can probably yell all you want, but it might not do any good.

With SD, we tell her the night before what she needs to do....we give her a timeline. We take turns telling her to hurry up.

and I apologize as I am not being disrespectful. When I was reading this I had a flashback to when my own son was ..9...10..11.12...and so on. I remember trying to outsmart him to keep him concentrated on the task at hand because I was becoming SO frustrated. When he was 14 we discovered that he has a learning disability where you can give him 3 things to do....he can remember the 1st one, but usually nothing further. Aside from the instructions issue, we would have never known he had any form of disability, other than he had difficulties picking things up in school at a normal rate. I have 2 daughters who are younger then their brother and I haven't had issues with them not following through on directions....HOWEVER, I now have two SS's (for the past 4 yrs). Right since get go they have done the SAME things as my son & your son, so there goes my son's disability theory!!! I have come to understand that this is a "mostly" boy thing. I think most will agree that boys seem to be in another planet most days.....hell, hubby is still that way....sorry for the guys out there, this is just my own personal feelings. I am in no way trying to down anyone, just explaining what my experiences have been.

Best of luck to you because either you have to learn extreme patience or have more hours in the day for him to get ready!!

This is just an idea, but in our house, we have a "job board" for SS7. Once he gets 100 stickers he get a reward. I know 100 sounds like a lot, but he can easly get 10 in a day. It includes his morning rutine: brush teeth, make bed, poop (he wont unless told thats a whole different story), get dressed then a bunch or chores, then bed time shower, brush teeth, poop, put PJ's on. So this keeps him motivated. then we total the day, we we get 100 he get a reward something for the dollar store or a movie night. This had worked for a few months now.
It is a kid thing so I just get him to do one thing at a time. then a sticker, then the next thing. Just make sure you have enough time in the morning/night to do somthing like this. But I put chores on there too, so he will ask xcan I vaccumm to get another sticker, or fold the laundery. lol. my house stays really clean since I started this.