Attention seeking? I'm not special (3 yo)

[MammyT]

Just wondering what you think of this.. My almost 4 year old girl sometimes says 'I'm not special', 'I have no friends' etc especially when tired. In general she's happy and sociable, and is popular at nursery.. She went through a phase saying things like 'I have no legs' and other blatantly not true things like that. She has a very active imagination (her nursery say she's quite bright in many ways) with imaginary friends and even a country behind the sofa, but could there be more to this that we shouldn't ignore?

She has one sibling but as there's a small gap between them, there's nothing new there. Any thoughts?

Wow, I think she sounds amazing, with a fantastic imagination and a sensitive disposition. Love her having a country behind the sofa.

Maybe she feels a bit down when tired - lots of us do, and I bet some kids are the same, hence her saying all those things.

The 'I'm not special' thing - I can see why that might make you sit up and take notice, but kids do say some very odd things. Maybe her imagination is kind of running away with her. I wonder what kind of answer you would get if you asked her what would need to be different in order for her to feel 'special'?

narmada - thanks for the reply.

"I wonder what kind of answer you would get if you asked her what would need to be different in order for her to feel 'special'?"

That's a very interesting question.. I'll ask her the next time!

When she says this, I tell her a little story about how me and her dad thought how nice it would be to have a baby after we got married and then tell her about the day she was born and how happy we were to have her at last. That seems to cheer her up at least.