Hi Katelyn's Mom,

First off, I apologize if this got long. I think I just need a place to vent.

Touche: telling me not to obsess in my post about my DD's obsessions. I do tend to lock down on things and micro analyze them, and I often post questions on here related to my "dissections" because this is such a diverse group of people who often have interesting, and more important, similar, experiences and suggestions. Also, when I begin something, I can hyper focus on it until it is completed so maybe that is what this will turn into for her. I don't have ADHD or Asbergers or any LD, but was gifted and artistic and good old fashioned weird to some, but popular when younger, but more isolated as I have gotten older.

My gut tells me something is throwing my DD4 "off" but I can't put my finger on it. I have always been considered perceptive and aware, but sometimes we have a strange blindness with our own children so I have tried to pull in other perspectives. I guess I am less interested in labels than in ways to make our lives more enjoyable.

She is a bubbly, apparently happy,loving child at least on the surface, but my husband just does not get along with her and they have conflict daily and he tends to see her as having some major "problem." Of the two of us, I tend to see her issues as related to giftedness, isolation, conflict with her father, etc, but some small part of me does feel something is a little off but that makes me very sad since I don't know quite what to do to make things easier for all of us. Maybe she will come together as she gets older.

I think I may just be burnt out on two of them so close in age who are so intense and who want so much interaction from me: yesterday I was with them every minute for 13 hours straight. I am working on getting my DD4 to not speak to me for short periods: yesterday I praised her for not talking to me for 30 seconds at a time while in the car. Talk about baby steps.

To answer your question, DD will take characters along and adapt her play to the activity and will focus on new things when we are out and about.