Thank you all so much once again for your extremely helpful and supportive posts.
I realise I haven't answered some questions put to me in them, so here goes -
Honor does gymanstics and Stagecoach (3 hours of drama, singing and dance) as well as dance club at school each week. She loves drama and is good at it - she has already passed LAMDA exams in poetry and prose and acting.
![Smiley :)](https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/Smileys/extended/smiley.gif)
Somehow, she can memorise whole plays...but can't remember to brush her teeth.
![Smiley :)](https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/Smileys/extended/smiley.gif)
We have cats,dogs and chickens at home and she loves animals, but can be very persistant with the cats when hyper...She has the scars to prove it!
I have had a friend over today who works as an early years advisor and she suggested a visual timetable as a way of getting Honor to do what she needs to do to get ready for school in the mornings. Also, a starry sky reward chart for every member of the family, in order to lift the mood here - so, a piece of black paper for each of us, to which stars are added for anything positive, eg Honor came in from school smiling, instead of complaining - star! Daddy was patient when we didn't do what he asked first time - star! When we've reached a pre-agreed number of stars in total, we choose a family treat, eg dinner out, trip to the cinema etc. Anyone can add stars for someone else, no stars can be removed.
I am going to contact the new school's SENCO to arrange a meeting, and try to find support groups locally. I've also got some specific parenting books out of the library.
I feel better just by trying to find new coping strategies.