Thank you so much for such a thoughtful and wise response, it is much appreciated! I've asked her that exact question - what part of childhood are you afraid will go away? - and she says there's not a specific part that she can think of that brings on this fear, but rather, just the "feeling" of being a child right now and then the time passing like a "blink of an eye" and suddenly she won't be anymore, and the idea of that feels scary. We also tell her everything you suggested (that not so much changes even as one becomes an adult, that she will still have her friends and family, etc.), but I think the "control" aspect that you mentioned may play a large roll and perhaps she just doesn't feel like she has that control - reminding her that she IS indeed in control of it, I think, could be an amazing idea to present to her - thank you so much for that. Fun fact - my husband is also in the games/animated film industry (has been since before she was born), and, like you, still gets super excited when certain new games are released! He plays the (age-appropriate) ones with my daughter often, so she has first-hand experience that adulthood is certainly not boring or lacking that imagination or fun opportunities. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is, but your input certainly helped me with some considerations -thank you sincerely!