my dd is 7. she is in 2nd grade,
we just moved to a new town 2 mos ago, and shes having trouble..
The story is, DH and I lived for 4 years in a nice house with DD and then eventually DS. DH got a job in a new city, so we moved. When we moved, life unraveled. DH started an affair and got hooked on prescription drugs. For a year life was hell. In 2011, DH was diagnosed with bipolar I. He got on medication, got sober, and left his mistress. We continued to live separately for 18 more months. (I was at this point financially strapped, me & the kids were living in a small apartment...)
The apartment complex had kids DD's age who played together all the time. Her BFF lived next to us and was over everyday.
Now that we have moved to a 3rd town (DH has been medication compliant for almost 2 years now, and sober for 2 years. We just moved in with him when he got a new job in a different town). Where we live now is small, and really a good place for DH to get his career back on track (one reason he had to leave the big city we were in was that he royally fouled up his work reputation there.)
There are no little girls around where we live, and DD has been crying that she is lonely. That all she does is watch tv, and she is bored. She has activities 3 days a week (Sunday School, Girl Scouts and Ballet) She also goes to a speech therapist 1x a week, although that is not fun! But it shows you that her week is pretty packed.
She also has a little brother to play with, and we do things on the weekends (drive a few hours to visit a musem or zoo, or a family member, friends, etc)
I drove 3 hours round trip to take her to see her old BFF a few weekends ago....
In addition to this, she sees her school friends every day.
Her grandparents just came for a visit (I wonder if their leaving is what really has her upset).
I TRY VERY HARD TO MAKE MY KIDS HAPPY AND I FEEL LIKE I AM FAILING.
I am soooo tired. I am dealing with a bipolar husband, and two small kids, a new area, and I spend my days taking them to activities (my younger child, DS, has play groups and Kindermusik, and t-ball)
I dont know what else to do... does DD need more friends or activities (my thought is a big no) or is she saying this because she is working thru her Dad's bipolar and drug addiction. She and her brother were court ordered to go to DH and his mistress' house every weekend and they saw Dad on drugs, the mistress (also on drugs) took care of them for the most part bc dad was out of it a lot. Once the mistress locked them in the play room while she had a party.
DD has told me that she feels gulty because she knows Dad's 'friend' was bad but she was so nice and always gave her candy and toys, that she liked her...
my thought is that she is missing her bff, but also that shes working thru emotional abuse & neglect she endured at her dads house during those weekends...
we just moved to a new town 2 mos ago, and shes having trouble..
The story is, DH and I lived for 4 years in a nice house with DD and then eventually DS. DH got a job in a new city, so we moved. When we moved, life unraveled. DH started an affair and got hooked on prescription drugs. For a year life was hell. In 2011, DH was diagnosed with bipolar I. He got on medication, got sober, and left his mistress. We continued to live separately for 18 more months. (I was at this point financially strapped, me & the kids were living in a small apartment...)
The apartment complex had kids DD's age who played together all the time. Her BFF lived next to us and was over everyday.
Now that we have moved to a 3rd town (DH has been medication compliant for almost 2 years now, and sober for 2 years. We just moved in with him when he got a new job in a different town). Where we live now is small, and really a good place for DH to get his career back on track (one reason he had to leave the big city we were in was that he royally fouled up his work reputation there.)
There are no little girls around where we live, and DD has been crying that she is lonely. That all she does is watch tv, and she is bored. She has activities 3 days a week (Sunday School, Girl Scouts and Ballet) She also goes to a speech therapist 1x a week, although that is not fun! But it shows you that her week is pretty packed.
She also has a little brother to play with, and we do things on the weekends (drive a few hours to visit a musem or zoo, or a family member, friends, etc)
I drove 3 hours round trip to take her to see her old BFF a few weekends ago....
In addition to this, she sees her school friends every day.
Her grandparents just came for a visit (I wonder if their leaving is what really has her upset).
I TRY VERY HARD TO MAKE MY KIDS HAPPY AND I FEEL LIKE I AM FAILING.
I am soooo tired. I am dealing with a bipolar husband, and two small kids, a new area, and I spend my days taking them to activities (my younger child, DS, has play groups and Kindermusik, and t-ball)
I dont know what else to do... does DD need more friends or activities (my thought is a big no) or is she saying this because she is working thru her Dad's bipolar and drug addiction. She and her brother were court ordered to go to DH and his mistress' house every weekend and they saw Dad on drugs, the mistress (also on drugs) took care of them for the most part bc dad was out of it a lot. Once the mistress locked them in the play room while she had a party.
DD has told me that she feels gulty because she knows Dad's 'friend' was bad but she was so nice and always gave her candy and toys, that she liked her...
my thought is that she is missing her bff, but also that shes working thru emotional abuse & neglect she endured at her dads house during those weekends...