Dear Neurolinks,

My 11-year-old daughter is incredibly unmotivated and super lazy when it comes to school. I’m constantly getting phone calls from her teacher who keeps complaining that she doesn’t do her homework, and that she daydreams in class. I always thought that my daughter was smart but now seeing her total lack of interest and poor grades are making me think otherwise. Is it pure laziness or could it possibly be something else?

– Confused Mom

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Dear Confused Mom,

No child is lazy. Period. Bored? Yes. Disengaged? Yes. Unmotivated due to underlying challenges they are facing? Yes, yes, yes. But lazy? Definitely not. Here’s a small secret – every child wants to do well and succeed, some just appear lazy and apathetic because they are finding things too difficult. Think of it like the pile of unpaid bills you dislike paying. You procrastinate because you’re juggling a million household chores and leaving your bills unpaid is one way to ease your daily challenges. So too your daughter might be leaving her homework to pile up because she finds the work difficult and dislikes completing it; she is trying to ease her challenges by avoiding that which she finds burdensome.

Your ultimate goal as a mother should be to try and do everything possible to get to the bottom of why your daughter lacks motivation and why she’s dragging her feet with her schoolwork. Once you discover the underlying issues then you’ll be able to help her manage those challenges, and hopefully overcome them.

We’d be happy to help. Don’t hesitate to give us a call. Together, we can help get your daughter back on track!

Yehudis & Chayala
Neurolinks