advice needed - 7 yr old DD

My 7 yr old daughter has always been a very happy kid...and most of the time she still is. Over the past few months she's been going through a phase (or at least i hope its a phase) where she says she is "miserable", says that the only colors she wants to wear are black and in her drawings of family she is always sad and crying. She's also been extremely mean to her younger sister (3 yrs old) - yelling, screaming, etc.

when DH and I ask her about this, she says that she is "miserable", but in a very overly dramatic, almost theatrical, way. its almost hard to take her seriously. at dance the other day the group took a selfie which she told me that she refused to smile because she's "not a happy kid and doesn't smile anymore". but again, its very theatrical - almost like she's acting.

She was watching the show The Loud House for a while and she would talk about the character Lucy (teenager always in black and very "emu")....i wont let her watch it anymore.

I don't think she's being bullied or anything as she's always been a class favorite among her peers (something that teachers and other parents always say) and she's never complained about anyone.

i'm just not sure what to make of her lately. anyone experience this? does this sound like she needs to go see somebody or should i just ignore the comments and see if she stops? i'm so upset over it all.

any thoughts would be appreciated.....

advice needed - 7 yr old DD

I think it is just a phase but keep an eye on it. Monitor her watching any you tube shows and books she is reading.

Our daughter turned so nasty for a while and she was imitating a you tube show she was watching because she thought the girl was cool. We blocked everything until she was able to understand that you need to be you and not imitate someone else. Girls are just dramatic and it's only going to get worse lol.

I would just keep an eye on it and if she really seems depressed then you can look into her talking to someone but I really think she is just acting out a part.

Re: advice needed - 7 yr old DD

DD watches Loud House and I know the character you are talking about.
And yes, at that age, they are very affected by things they watch on TV. She will sometimes use phrases or act a certain way that i know is not her- and then I find out it's from some character on you tube or a tv show.

I have a feeling that is what you DD is doing. Keep an eye on it and see if she changes now that she can't watch the show anymore.

Re: advice needed - 7 yr old DD

I almost want to say ignore it. She's just looking for attention for whatever reason. Kids are dramatic. They love to make us nuts. Obviously keep an eye on it, but don't necessarily feed into it, kwim?

Good luck to you. Girls are tough

Re: advice needed - 7 yr old DD

I have a 7 year old as well. I think that months is a long time for this to be going on - maybe a few weeks I would ignore but at this age "months" is a long time. Also, the drawing of all sad crying pictures gets me too. I would just ty to redirect the behavior but, personally, I would need to make sure that there wasn't something that happened to her (real or perceived) that triggered this sadness. I would try to get to the bottom of that. Hopefully nothing happened and then I would just continue to redirect and speak with her. If she doesn't snap out of it and more months go by I would definitely talk to her teachers, social worker at the school etc.

Re: advice needed - 7 yr old DD