Child does not like going home

[Somebodyimportant1]

This might be silly but I am curious to know what people think

My dd age 5 to be 6 in July recently started getting upset after school saying she does not want to go home. She likes to play and she is a very happy carefree girl, I see that she plays and runs around with friends after Sch & as soon as is time to leave, she starts to cry. She went on a play date to a friends house yesterday for a couple of hours and when I turned up to pick her up, she started crying saying “I have only been here 5mins”. I understand she's a child but it's bothering me a bit because I feel people might begin to think she not been looked after properly at home. She and her brother are very happy & comfortable at home.
Is this something common in kids around this age or is that she really loves playing?

I’d say fairly normal! She loves playing and running about with her friends, and doesn’t want it to come to an end. I’m often the same

Crying when being picked up from play dates is definitely normal. My children’s school isn’t fun enough for them to want to be there.

Ohh my ds used to do this every night at after school club... you'd think he would of had enough of school by 5pm! He loved it... it didn't last and by year 5/6 he was complaining a lot about having to stay. 😂

Yes, this is really normal. Mine would stay at school and at friend's all the time if it's let her. It's more exciting than being stuck at home doing homework and tidying her room. Mine is 8 now, but she has told me lots of times how she wants to go to boarding school so she can sleep over at school with her friends and only see us at the weekend. We can't stay around school anymore after pick up (COVID rules), but it used to be really hard to extract her from friends at the playground and everyone's dc were the same, kicking and screaming when it was time to go home. I wouldn't take it personally.

I understand its upsetting. My daughter was the same at that age. She hated anything coming to a end if she was having fun. It didn't matter if we were out for one hour or five, she would cry and complain and when she went on play dates she would look disappointed when I arrived to collect her and it really hurt my feelings!
I think it's fairly normal and I'm afraid I have no advice - I just used to say 'you'll see your friends again tomorrow/soon'. Children have to learn not everything can be fun/playful etc and we have to do normal/mundane things too.