6 Year Old Daughter - Antisocial?

Question

I have a six year old daughter (only child) Her father passed away when she was 14 months old and I remarried about 2 years ago. She gets along great with my new husband and he is a teacher who during the summer works at a summer camp, and she goes with him to camp.

Lately, she has been very antisocial at the camp and he has called me several times and put her on the phone while she is crying. She says no one is mean to her, she does have kids there that she plays with / interacts with but for some reason she does not want to go outside to play kickball. She throws a fit, cries so hard she literally throws up. Over kickball?!?!?!

Today he called to tell me while everyone went outside to play, she chose to stay inside and lay down on a mat.

She seems to play fine at home with the neighborhood kids, and i've asked her several times if she wants me to switch her camp so she can go to the one she went to last year, and she doesn't want to, so i dont know what is wrong.

Answer 1

I was the same when I was younger. I had fun with kids that I saw on an everyday basis but when it came to day camps (or even a week,) I felt "left out" because I like to have more time to get to know someone. She might also be jealous that other kids are getting attention from your husband. When I was in girl scouts there was a girl who took a liking to my Mom, who was the leader, and I was really upset about it and started acting up during girl scout meetings. I actually ended up making the girl quit.

Answer 2

I would recomment letting her talk to someone like a counselor. Kids open up to other people quicker and more comfortably than their parents. There may be something wrong with her like the way she feels or the way she sees everything that we just don't understand. Some kids like to stray off by themself and do their own thing but getting that upset needs to be looked into.

Answer 3

You know, it might not be as bad as all that.  If she plays with the kids appropriately part of the time, and only has this sort of reaction when playing certain games, maybe it IS just the game.  Perhaps she feels that she isn't any good at kickball so she doesn't want to play it.  

Or, since she is an only child, maybe she needs some time alone in the middle of the day.  My daughter's friend is an only child and I've noticed while she is here that she often goes off by herself to play something else when the other kids are doing something that doesn't interest her.  In the future, just tell your husband to let her know that she has a choice..."We're going to play kickball now, but if you want to stay inside that's okay too."

Answer 4

She is clearly antisocial.  Crying over games, spouts of anger and sadness when away, fits, crying when seperated from her mom while at camp,  this is clearly not the behavior of a young child.  Be sure and consult your doctor.  I suggest you get her on some low dose prozac & lithium combination in the morning to begin w/ and 2 mg xanax at night for sleep..  A doctor can inform you of the correct dosages.  Slowly build up the prozac until childs behavior becomes tolerable.

Answer 5

Ask your husband to keep an eye on her interactions with the other kids because it very well may be someone IS being mean and she may be too afraid to tell. Or she may just want to be home. It may be overload if there are a lot of kids there, especially if she doesn't know them.