We moved house a year ago. DD is 6 and coming to the end of Year 1. We moved just before the end of Reception, so she had to change schools. But she settled in very quickly even though she is a more anxious child than many others.
She's always been a deep thinking, complex little thing. Over the past 2 months, she has had a few episodes where she is sad, articulates that she 'doesn't feel right' 'doesn't feel normal' she 'doesn't know what is the matter' with her. She says she feels sad and feels like there is something wrong with her. Then when pushed, she goes on to talk about missing her old friends. She only knew them for the duration of her time in Reception.
I appease her (eventually) by getting her to think about positive things that have happened that day and to focus on happy things that are happening in the future. I also tell her that it is normal to sometimes feel sad for no reason. It's possible she picks up on stresses from me and my husband - it's possible we've too openly discussed our own housemove+job+area stresses in front of her.
As far as I can tell, there's nothing going on at school. She has a best friend and is popular enough at school and is getting on great. So, I wonder what these episodes are really about? Can she really be missing her friends that she knew for 9 months? Or does she give that as the reason for her sadness when I try to draw a reason out of her?
Is this moroseness a typical 6 year old development phase or ought I be more worried?