I've recently started to worry about my previously bright, confident and charming eight year old. She seems to be experiencing waves of uncontrollable emotion, having sudden tearful or angry outbursts and even sometimes really quite dark moods. In between, she is happy go lucky and more 'childlike'. She has also developed some awkward, nervous habits, such as twiddling her fingers and making odd facial expressions. She has plenty of friends, she is doing well at school, and I think / hope a stable home environment, though she has been upset by the odd recent row between my husband and me. It feels to me as though she is finding it hard making the transition from a pure childlike state to that phase where you become a bit more aware of the complexities / tougher side of life without fully understanding everything. To me, she really seems to be grappling with her own emotions, but it's not completely clear what it is that she feels so emotional about. We have two younger children, who came along very quickly one after the other, so I do also wonder whether we've just put too much pressure on her to 'be the grown up one'. What do people think could be the cause of this, and how can we help her through it and prevent her from developing further problems?