Anyone else got a martyr?

[elephantjuice]

My dd(6) has been acting the martyr a lot lately. It can be quite funny in retrospect but I don't know why she feels the need to do it, or how to respond when it happens.

Today's example:

dd: Mum, can we have a jumbo sale? (she means jumble sale)
me: Well, maybe sometime. Why?
dd: Because I want to sell some of my old things.
me: Why do you want to do that?
dd: To buy more things that we need.
me: You mean like new toys?
dd: No, things we need like clothes.
me: I don't expect you to pay for clothes.
dd: But I want to because it would help you.

It went on a bit longer and she actually had tears in her eyes! In the end I changed the subject, she left the room and came back OK a while later.

Is this usually a sophisticated form of attention seeking? Or does she have the weight of the world on her little shoulders?!

yes, but she's 58 and she can fuck off

O bless her. Not attention seeking sounds more like shes developing a social conscious by being aware of the needs of people around her and wanting to help. Perhaps you could explain that while your family are fine there are peeps out there who need help and channel her towards some charity work.
What a lovely girl

Greensleeves mine is nearly 80

ej, sounds to me as though your dd said what it was - she wants 'to help you'.

I would ask her about what she's feeling when she goes into 'responsible mode', or what she's worreid about...and if she still just says she wants to help, maybe you could re-direct those feelings into some activity she can do with you which is genuinely helpful? Like helping with chores, for example?