My DD just turned 9. In many ways, I find her to be quite young for her age. She loves her American Girl dolls and her Barbies. Her friends say that both are babyish, yet when they come to our house they play with both for hours. DD is learning how to knit from her grandmother and is super excited about it, but passed the comment that she doesn't want anyone to know that she is doing it. Her favourite game is hide-and-go-seek. She plays it with her little brother all the time because then it is okay because she can say that he wanted to play it.
She is spending more time stressing about what others think and, for the first time, hiding her thoughts and activities. She says that her friends look at her weirdly when she talks sometimes, so she tries to think about her topic before opening her mouth. I feel so sad to hear this. She is so open and full of life, I don't want her to worry so much about what others think of her.
We have been lucky with the Santa conversations (God bless 'The Polar Express'!), but I can sympathize with your worries about your DD. It is one thousand little things and not one big thing, but no one quite understands when you try to explain it.
