Making Friends

[dakirk]

My daughter is 7 and used to go around in a "three". The other two have palled up while my dd was off with chicken pox and now my dd feels terribly left out. I have tried to encourage her to make new friends but she says that no-one likes her or she doesnt like them. I HATE THIS!!, it makes me feel so sad and you feel like going to school dragging a kid by the scruff of the neck and forcing them to play with her. She used to do a lot of things after school such as choir and ballet both of which she dropped becuase they are "boring", and when she comes in from school I am like something out of the secret police questioning who she played with, who she had dinner with. I know you cant live their lives for them and its probably something we all have to go through, I just cant bear it!!! Any advice or how you got through it, I would be grateful.

which I could say something useful, but feeling much the same way as you at the moment regarding school and having to leave your child to cope alone, sorry.

meant to add, hope she finds a really good friend very soon.

It is really difficult isn't it - my dd is 6 and she has experienced similar recently - fortunately, she gets on with alot of the girls in her school year and doesn't appear that bothered that her no.1 friend and her no.2 friend seem to be leaving her out a bit. We have recently had a girly day in our house - invited 5 other girls round, we made jewellery, hamma beads, they played music and dressing up etc. I found it was a good way to encourage new friends and get to know a few mums.
I think that you really have to leave her to it whilst at school and try not to ask her all the time who she is playing with.

Try not to get too involved in it all. What will happen is the other 2 will fall out over something trivial to adults but terribly serious to 7 year olds and your daughter will be a great friend again. Try to encourage your daughter to play with everyone and tell her not to exclude others. Girls can be so cliquey in away boys aren't - you need alot of boys for a good game of football. There will be a lot of "fall outs" over the years so try to get her to have lots of different friends for different activities. Easier said than done I hear you say but life is like this even when you are an adult.