I am in a dare need of similar experiences since I have no idea what to do. I am also frustrated as I don�t even know how to precisely describe an issue. Sorry, it will be a very long post�
My DD7 just turned 7 and in a second grade (skipped 1 year). She is a cheerful, "happy-at-school" child. For as long as I can remember she would refuse to discuss, tell, explain anything about her feelings, emotions, even anything as simple as �how was your day/what did you do during the day�...
Whatever your say/ask the answer would be �good� and �great�. Since she was a baby I encouraged open ended questions (when she doesn�t have a choice to answer simply yes/no) yet she manages to describe anything in two words - good or great. I am exaggerating but not really. She seems to talk nonstop about immediate things (�mom look at me all the time�) but mum when it comes to �please share your opinion/feelings�. I would be surprised by other people�s knowledge about what is going on in schools and how much they know about my child and I am yet to hear from her about her day/friend/likes and dislikes.
It comes to small things as simple as her breakfast� She would never say what would she like for breakfast or if she likes my cooking or not� I can guess by amount of leftovers if it was good or bad and make a mental note about it. If I ask she would simply say (as you can guess) It was good Mommy, thank you�
Don�t get me wrong if she doesn�t want to do/eat something � she would not do so by any means but in a subtle way that you wouldn�t even acknowledge until later� It seems like there is so much under this happy surface that I get a glimpse of once and while when she asks one of her questions out of the blue� She would ask these questions, take in an answer and if it is to her satisfaction � mum after that. When I pressure her into tell me about her day it will sound as �in the morning we had seat work, after that I played with so and so�. This is as descriptive as it gets�
I guess I was like this is as well when I was a child, when all of my emotions were inside and I was �all over� happy child. I made an assumptions that it was my parents who really did not encourage much of a sharing but it doesn�t look like it now, since I had my DD�. I am at lost as to is it my fault? Her personality? Should I worry? How can I ensure she will share if she needs help? I am monitoring her very closely for signs of stress/discomfort (through her drawings, writing, play, etc.) and nothing alarming but since she is getting older I want to make sure I give her what she wants and what is needed by her but it is hard to do what she is not verbally expressing her needs/likes/wants�
