My youngest daughter is very clingly.

[Lizzie]

I have three children, all get along very well. Christine is 23, Kevin is 18, and Kate is 15. They are all very independant children and do well in school and with friends. They are all outgoing and have gotten themself into their fair share of trouble, nothing too big tho. Lately me and my husband have been noticing that Kate is very close with me, like attached. She doesnt leave my side. If I leave the house, she wants to come too. She doesnt stay home unless I am, wont go swimming unless I am home, and If it happens that I am not home and she is, christine said she just sits on her bed and shes sad. I am begging to get neverous about this, because this isnt how she used to act at all. I noticed it the most on fathers day. The three were fooling around by the pool like they always do, kate is possibly the strongest, and she pushed christine in, and kevin then pushed her in. She stayed under water a little longer than usual so when she came up me and my husband asked if she was alright, she had a smile on her face so we figure it was okay, but she grabbed her arm got out of the pool and started crying. I couldnt understand that huge change. Then Christine tried to get her to come back into the pool, Kate is a swimmer and a diver for her high school, and our town, shes one of the best in the town, and Christine asked her to do flips, she did. But with each one she was like "Mommy watch, Mommy you arent watching!" And she did about 6 and then cried saying she hit her head, which none of us seem to believe becuase we didnt see anything happen. The rest of the day she wouldnt leave my side, she sat on lap, and hugged me, and fell asleep on me while watching a movie, even with her firends there. I am neverous that something is wrong. She just isnt herself. It has nothing to do with her period becuase she has had that now for almost 5 years, and just in the past month or so she began acting like this. Any ideas?

[redchief]

It sounds like your baby doesn't want to grow up to me. I think she knows it and she's not in a big hurry. It's a scary world out there! It's actually not very unusual, and I wouldn't worry too much about it. I would encourage her to interact socially with her peers, and be sure to make it known that if she has any issues she should feel free to discuss them. As long as she stays solid academically and socially, I think the rest will pass. Some kids rip the apron strings right off, others untie them slowly and hang on to the ties as they forray into the grown-up world without mom and dad being right there.

One other thing... There could be a fear in her that you won't be there for her when she needs you. Perhaps you should address that subtly to be sure that's not what's happening.

[maddie223]

Maybe something happened and she feels that you need to protect her?