My 7-year-old daughter is very dramatic

[kimberli917]

My 7-year-old daughter seems to do fine overall at school with peers and authority figures.   Her teachers comment that she is a sweet girl who tries hard.  At home, however, it is not always the same story.  She can be dramatic, emotional and moody.  She has a two-year-old little brother, and seems to try hard to be a good big sister, but underneath it all we wonder if she is jealous of the normal attention he gets.  She responds well to special one-on-one time with either of us parents, but time does not permit for us to have special outing everyday, and it seems that when we don't she is prone to withdrawal or dramatic and emotional outbursts.  An example might be her running into the door when she is unhappy about a limit being set, and then screaming and crying because she has inflicted a minor injury on herself.  Often when she is unhappy and tries to express her feelings she does so in loud dramatic tones that seem unnecessary.  At times her coping skills seem to be good, when at other times her responses seem dramatic and overly emotional.  Is it normal for a 7-year-old girl to be emotional and dramatic?  We have a stable home setting, and she has never been abused or mistreated.  Is this a phase, or something more serious?

[Carol910]

I see this was posted over 2 years ago.  W are going through this right now with our 7-year-old daughter.  Your description could have been written by me so I'm wondering how your daughter is doing now.  What did you try that worked well?  Is she less emotional now and does she have better coping skills?  Our daughter over-reacts about everything and just doesn't seem happy.  We have tried doing more with just her, giving her special time with 1 parent, away from her 2 siblings but she always finds something to complain about and simply not have fun.  I'm really torn about what to do and would appreciate any comments you have about what helped your daughter through this phase (hoping they do grow out of it).

[margypops]

She feels left out and is asking by acting out for more positive attention,thats why she ran into the door, negative attention is better than no attention, focus on her positive side and praise her when you see her doing something right.Yes in my opinion it is totally normal for a young child to be emotional and dramatic to gain some attention, when she sees her younger brother getting it.