Worried about my 8 year old

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 7:43 am

Faith,

I get the "oh no, he's got it too" thoughts with my 7yr old son sometimes. The beauty of it is that you're aware and can help your child cope. That encourages me. When my son comes to me with irrational scary thoughts in the middle of the night, I get out of bed and go lay down with him. We lay on our backs have some Father-Son dialog and I talk him off the cliff so to speak. Then we say "Good dreams" and I go back to my bed. That works every time.

With the tooth brushing, I say make the most of that time and don't make a big deal of it. Sit next to her on the toilet and chat with her about the day or anything while she's brushing. I'm no expert either, but I do think that the bigger deal we make about things the bigger they become. If she had a ton of other social issues then there may be room for concern. This sounds like an opportunity to me. Your concern proves you're a great mom and will take any necessary action should things get out of hand.

"Good Dreams"

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 8:04 am

Yeah as far as social she's ALWAYS wanting to be with friends. Actually it's to a point where I wonder what's so wrong with being home! She comes in and immediately looks for someone else to play with. I try not to, but at times I pout and ask her. . .why don't you want to hang out with Mommy?

I could have kicked myself yesterday because I sort of gave her a guilt trip about it which I don't ever want to do. . .but it's like. . .I feel like a big fat loser cuz my kid doesn't want to spend any time with me any more.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:32 am

Hey let's face it. There comes a time when we're just not that fun or cool anymore. Celebrate their independence. Look at it this way, you'd be more concerned if your daughter only wanted to cling to you and not be with friends.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:40 am

True. . . but she could throw me a bone once in awhile.

She walked into our house this afternoon and said "mommy remember when we first moved in and it smelled like new house?" and I said. . .ummm, actually it sort of smelled like dog, remember (it's a rental; our previous house was built for us). She said, "there must be something wrong with your nose, it smelled new!"

I pulled her aside and asked her if she was trying to say my house didn't smell nice in front of her friends. . .she says she wasn't, but in the last 24 hours she has (in front of them) told me that my nails needed to be cut and that my hair wasn't done right. I finally told her if she continues to say ugly things to me she can spend some time alone in her room. The neighbor that watched her while I worked today said she was very crabby all day today (she had trouble getting to sleep)