Mums of preteen dds: Describe to me, please, what is going on with their emotional, intellectual and physical development

[Earlybird]

After a terrible weekend where dd and I clashed repeatedly, I feel completely exhausted. Am in dire need of reassurance that, while difficult, dd is going through a 'normal' phase (and that I haven't been a completely cr*p parent)!

With that in mind - what is going on with your dds? How are you finding them atm, and how are you coping?

Please share, so I know i'm not the only one struggling!

DD 11, just started high school is a lovely, happy girl , has the odd mood swings but is usually directed at her younger sister and never us. She doesn't argue or talk back to me or her Dad.

Shes getting breasts, hairs down below, spots, oily hair but not yet started her periods.

She's not as interested as the other girls in her year with texting, social networking or going out and is much happier playing in the street with kids, riding her bike or going the park with me. She loves being with just me or her Dad and volunteers to go everywhere with us. Can have very grown up conversations with her and is very good company :) Loves cuddles and kisses still.

DD 9 , is usally also a lovely, happy girl but has swings and roundabouts, one minute happy as anything and next crying her eyes out !! Started to give us a few 'looks' when getting told off but that only leads to us sending her to her room or grounding her. Has alot of falling outs with her older sister, bickering alot and genarally just nit picking about things and finding things to argue over.

Would rather play with other friends siblings than her own younger brother, prefers her own company and will just take herself off to be on her own.

However, she is a caring little girl and will take younger children under her wing, loves cuddles and kisses still :) Is thoughful of others too!

xxx

dd (yr 7) will be 12 in a month or so
no periods, a tiny bit of hair
breast buds
tall, skinny, fit (does a lot of sport)
conscientious
hard working
funny, good sense of humour
can be insensitive sometimes
rarely moody but when she is she is TERRIBLY moody
totally uninterested in clothes or popstars except Ellie goulding who she rather likes
obsessed with horses

oh, a few spots too (inherited my greasy skin poor thing)
loves me, irritates her sisters
seems popular and never hear any moaning about friendships (fingers crossed this lasts for a while)

DD is just 10.

Breast buds.
A little stinky from time to time.
Greasy hair.
She's had an hourglass shape since birth.
Has been moody as hell for the past couple of years. Now most definitely teen-based. Eye-rolling a speciality.
Argumentative - but that's not new, it's just stepped up a few notches.
DH & I are beyond embarrassing.
Overly (IMHO) interested in boys. Constant questions regarding "the S word", as she refers to sex.
Horribly insensitive, in the past week directed towards me.
CBA at school, apart from languages.

I worry about her

dd is 9 1/2

not too bad moodywise, she is quite pragmatic, but very sensitive.
tall and slim. has grown 5 inches in one year and gone up two shoe sizes.
started to get very painful nipples at age 8.
that lasted about 6 months.
blackheads and pimples on nose chin and cheeks, started about 6 months ago.
hair down below about 4 months ago, tho it's very fine atm, also alot more discharge.
started getting wiffy pits and sweaty ones about 8 months ago.

none of this i would have thought was unusual, she's a female, BUT i wasn't expecting any of it to even start until she was about 10 tbh.!

dd is 10.

She has developed breasts and has put on some weight.

She needs to shower every day and can be a bit smelly - she hates washing.
Switches from being very moody to an angel.
No spots
No new hair.
Is a size 4 shoe.
Works hard at school, she adores her teacher but loves to give us an eye roll.

Very emotional and can be clingy - she has a habit of practically sitting on top of you. Earlier I asked her to just give me a little space which resulted in her storming out of the room and listening to strange loud music in her room while filling her diary with tales of her lonely unloved existence.