Hello All,

I have a 7 year old daughter. She is fantastic and I love her to bits. She is an only child and I have recently got married, so she has a new Step Dad. We have also just moved a long way from former friends and family as my husband is in the Air Force.

I have a lot of guilt about the fact that she is an only child and may be lonely. I find it hard to get the balance between giving her space and filling the gaps that may be there because of lack of siblings.

Not too sure what my question is, other that ANY THOUGHTS?

I'm in the AF too, and have a little boy so I know how it can be. The bases usually have a lot of things for kids to get involved with year round. There's after school programs and all kinds of other youth programs. Being an only child isn't depriving her of anything-but encouraging her to get out and make friends at school could be beneficial. It will give her the freedom of choosing her own playmates and she'll learn better social skills. It takes other kids to teach our kids what we can't. Not sure if that covers anything you might have been looking for--but I gave it a shot!

Have her join a club or sport that she enjoys doing, at school allow her to invite someone over to the house for playtime, also get her into girlscouts where she will meet others from your area, church youth groups is also something she might like to join if she attends church.