AIBU to ask you if she sounds like a typical 8 ear old.

[2021notgoingtoplan]

I’m preparing my middle DC to return to school.
A few things that was suggested to me what that we need to work on her being less passive. She also may benefit from maturing in terms of interests so she has things in common with her piers.

Now she has only just turned 8 she is a sweet kind natured girl. Would not say boo to a ghost and loves loves making friends but does struggle with speech / confidence.
She would do anything for her friends as such wanting to make 2 world book day costumes one for her friend as she knows she won’t have one.
Getting upset when Booked a suprise party for her because it was a place where ( was wasn’t aware of this because she had just started the school ) one of her friends wouldn’t be able to join in due to mobility.
She is girly, she isn’t very good at sport, she enjoys singing, dancing etc she does play computer games which she loves but for instance she wouldn’t play a game like I think it’s called piggy ? She says she doesn’t like it because it’s gross.
She watches Disney movies especially the animal based ones. She has recently just got in to watching high school musical and descendants. She still loves her dolls and soft toys mainly our generation, descendant dolls, schliech horses.
She mainly still watches tv programmes wise
Miraculous, go teen Titans, barbies dreamhouse and spirit however she will sit and watch Sofia the first and paw patrol still !
She liked wearing flowery dresses and sparkly shoes. She enjoys dressing up in costumes and still loves frozen especially Anna.
Is any of this sooo far behind a just turned 8 year old so much that she would stick out amongst other her peers
I’ve never really worried about it before until I was told.
Thank you.

Sounds normal.
Is that piggy game on roblox? I'm sure it's quite a creepy game so it's understandable she doesn't want to play it?

Can't see anything wrong with this. I have an almost 9 year old girl with the same interests. In my eyes her friends and peers are growing up too quickly and mine is still a baby in comparison but she's happy as she is and has friends, as yours does, so why worry?

Honestly, she sounds fine! 9 year old DSD still enjoys Sophia and Frozen ;-) as well as Descendants, HSM, etc. From seeing the range of her friends on Zoom parties, your DD sounds just fine.

She sounds like a lovely little girl. What interests are being recommended?

I’m not sure what piggy is, but she sounds like a normal 8 year old to me.
My DD and I watched frozen 2 last year and she was 10 1/2 , although I was keener than her!

I bet if she was a boy and into all that there'd be loads of affirmation!

Nope, seems reasonable to me. She’s yr3? Sounds like a lot of yr3 to me- sparkles, dolls, creating things. Loving animals and caring about her friends are great character traits.
I think girls often suddenly grow up in yr5 and the girls in my yr6 class appear to be a different breed to those in yr4! However, my yr6 still like to play when they get the chance and love “helping” in eyfs (sadly not allowed now).
Yr6 boys suddenly seem to change between leave primary and starting secondary. Every year I worry as I watch them playing cops and robbers or Spider-Man in June, not a hint of it in secondary school!

just let her be herself.
why should she be pushed into trying to adapt/keep up with what others are doing / interested in.
she is an individual. she is good enough as she is.
don't compare her to others. that way lies a life-time of money expended on psychotherapy in her adult life, and all the attendant resentment re parents' attitudes.
she needs what all children, all of us actually need, to be loved, respected and accepted. thats all. and that's plenty good enough.

She’s just turned 8, that all sounds perfectly fine! Some people really seem to want to rush dc through childhood. Who gave this advice?

I have an 8yr old girl in Y3 and this all sounds pretty normal to me

My 8 year old daughter isn't into any of that stuff but many of her friends are.

I don't see anything wrong with that list.

Its ok for children to like their own things and have different interests to their friends.

Sounds like my girl who turns 8 next month. Some of her peers are into preteen stuff, clothes wise and tiktok for example, buts that just not us as a family, and we are a long way off encouraging it. She loves her dolls, her books, frozen, dressing up....pretty much the stuff she loved as a three year old, but now she has Lego too. We just follow her interests, which can be very random, she’s recently asked for an electrical circuit making kit that she spends hours playing with.

Thank you for the reassurance. I do already worry about her more than I do my eldest DC who seemingly slots in to society with ease. She struggled a bit more with confidence.

Just to add my Dd also loves paw patrol and watches/plays it with her little brother, she got upset when her school friend told her it was for babies, but told him that’s his opinion 😁

My daughter is eight and has the same interests.

She sounds like a lovely girl! Pretty much how my 10yo was a couple of years ago - and then they hit 10 and bam! Hormones come in!

Isn't it sad how they "have" to conform? God, at 9 years old, I got my first off road scrambler motorbike and started competing. My other hobby was breeding canaries.
Let her be whoever she wants to be.
Is it another mother, telling you how she should act? And what she should like?

My daughter has just turned eight and is into everything you have listed.

My daughter is 11 now and less mature in interests than some friends. But that's ok. She keeps up at school and has friends. But whe they were 9 and into uTube and Roblox my daughter was playing with toys etc.... All kids are different and mature differently. There is no right and wrong. There will be time enough in the future for other interests. Let your daughter be and enjoy her childhood.

Year 4 will be the year it all changes. Mark my words!

She’s got loads of years ahead of her to be more grown up. It’s nice that she’s still into some of the younger pastimes. They can grow up so fast.

I bet lots of her school friends are also into these things too, but just keep it quiet as they don’t want everyone to know.

She sounds lovely and just like a just turned 8 year old should be.

My DD had very similar interest and is almost 9. I've recently noticed that some of the girls in her class are really into mobiles, writing messages on WhatsApp, sending tiktok videos, talking about makeup etc and I'm just relieved she's not at that stage yet! She lives playmobil still and spends hours playing without and crafting new things for the houses etc...there's no way I'll be encouraging her away from that any time soon. She'll get there quickly enough I'm sure.
Who has made suggestions to you?

Sounds totally normal to me and I have an almost 8 year old who is very similar.

Sounds like all stuff my just turned 9 year old is into, perhaps other than the TV shows.

She sounds like a nice kid who's doing what 8 year olds should be doing. My niece is 10 and still into all of the above, she loves her mini figures and dolls (( or tat collections as we call them ))

If some silly twat has exposed their child to too much MTV and tiktok and is now putting your child down ignore them. They're probably inwardly jealous. I find the current trend of really young kids rejecting being a child in favour of being a mini adult extremely sad tbh.