toddler melancholy??!!!

[strangerthanfiction]

My dd, almost 21 months, is so into things going wrong / breaking, etc. If we read a book she always wants to get to the page when the little girl falls down / the teddy cries / something gets broken. Her favourite words are 'oh dear' which she says with a very sad serious voice and she continually points out things that are broken or messy. She's quite a serious little lady, doesn't go for giggles and rough and tumble much at all. This all started a couple of months or so ago but it's just got worse and worse as times gone on. She also now says 'oh dear, broken' etc. etc. in her sleep! Should I worry? Is this a phase? Does it say anything generally about her particular character or is it very typical?

the book is Kiss It Better, by Jan Omerod, £5.99 Walker Books. I htink your dd will just love it!

I've got one of these and she has grown into a very caring and empathetic 4 and a half year old. She's still a worrier though so we write and illustrate little stories about the things that really play on her mind...its been a fantastic help and she loves reading them! I'm looking forward to when she's older and can keep a diary. Also you'll probably find that she will LOVE 'naughty' books like Horrid Henry and Amelia Jane when she is older - mine does!

Thanks aloha, I'll get that book. I've seen a few of Jan Omerods books and liked them.

And yes, enid, I think she will like 'naughty girl' books. I got her one from the library called 'good baby / bad baby' and she's definitely more interested in the bad baby half of the book as she can do lots of 'tut-tutting', shaking her finger and saying 'naughty. Oh dear.'

I guess one of the strange things is that I know some of this must come from me, I mean must be her copying me. Yet I don't find myself EVER wagging my finger at things in quite the supercilious way she does!

STF, I'm glad you're feeling better about this. My 8yo dd has always been one for the dramatic side of life. Her current obsession is Egyptian mummies and she says she wants to mummify her big sister, sucking her brains out through her nose!!! But dd is a perfectly happy child, despite her morbid interests, and she's certainly very caring towards other children, esp smaller ones. I'm sure your dd will be fine.

Blimey, Suedonim, these stories just get better and better!