Daily life and schedule for an 12 year old tween girl. Learn about common concerns that come up with the preteen age group. This covers 11 years 9 months old through 12 years old.
This is a summary for McKenna from 11.75-12 years old. She is now a 12 year old!
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SLEEP
Sleep is great! McKenna is my highest sleep needs child. Kaitlyn also needs a lot of sleep and likes to sleep, but if McKenna doesn’t get her sleep, she draaaagggsss. So when we are on vacation, for example, she will nap when she gets a chance and nap when she gets home.
EAT
Eat is good. McKenna eats super fast and will basically eat anything I put in front of her. She is not picky in the slightest.
INJURY
Toward the end of January, McKenna was finally able to get out of her boot. After that, she had physical therapy for 3-4 weeks twice a week.
She has been SO HAPPY to be back to life. The running, the jumping, the doing all things sports.
Whenever you come back from an injury, it takes time to get back to yourself when you play sports. McKenna has been bouncing back quickly.
She was able to get in a ski day, play some soccer, and hike an inactive volcano. She is thrilled to be back.
VACCINATIONS
McKenna is coming up on 7th grade, and that means it is time for the next round of vaccinations.
A few years ago, she had a severe reaction to a flu shot at a flu clinic at the school.
She has not had a vaccination since.
We are not sure if she even can get the next round. We have an appointment with an allergist later this week to get the ball rolling to figure out what to do next.
STRONG-WILLED
You may remember that McKenna is my strong-willed child. She has been so easy for many, many years. I always knew if I could get her on the right path, her strong-will would keep her there and it has.
As she gets to be an older preteen coming up on teen years, I see glimpses of moments she doesn’t want to do something. But she does it.
She has no attitude yet. No eye-rolling.
She is a major peacemaker in our home and will sacrifice anything for anyone else.
SCHOOL
School has been going really well. She loves school and loves to learn. Her school has been in person 5 days a week all school year.
She is entering her last couple of months in elementary school and it is crazy! I can’t believe I almost only have one child left in the elementary school. It really does go by very quickly.
EXTRA CURRICULARS
McKenna is doing soccer and piano.
She told me one day recently that she doesn’t love piano lessons. It definitely doesn’t seem to be her thing as much as it is for Kaitlyn and Brayden. I do think part of it is just being frustrated that she isn’t as good as they are.
McKenna is not a patient person through working toward being good at something.
She is quite athletic naturally so a lot of things come easily for her. She is smart so school is easy. She is in the gifted and talented program at school.
So she doesn’t really have to work at things she is good at.
It isn’t that she doesn’t have a work ethic and won’t put in time and effort on things in general.
Working toward skills is a whole different mindset than working to clean a bathroom.
It is the things that are more unknown and take little bits of effort day by day to get better at that she doesn’t enjoy.
And so, she continues piano.
The willingness to work at things little by little day after day is a life skill I feel people need to have.
Piano is a great way to develop that skill.
She also has it in soccer in working on individual skills. She is currently working on getting to 100 juggles with the ball. She has had some frustrating moments as she has worked on it, but she has also seen some success and has recognized how that has helped her on the field.
I told McKenna that once she was capable of playing the hymns in our hymn book, she could stop taking piano lessons. Brayden has been at that stage for 2 years now, so she could feasibly meet that goal in a couple of years if she puts in the work. Or she could take lessons until she moves out of the house. We shall see.
FAVORITE BOOKS
McKenna loves the Keeper of the Lost Cities books. She reads them over and over again.
She is also into historical fiction. A recent author she has enjoyed is Alan Gratz. She got Prisoner B-3087 (about World War II) and loved it. Her friend got Ground Zero (about 9-11). They swapped books with each other. He has several more books. They seem to all be for the 9-12ish age range, which is nice to find historical fiction books appropriate for that age group.
SCHEDULE
Here is her typical daily schedule for this time.
7:00 AM-Wake up and get ready for school.
8:30 AM-Leave for school.
3:10 PM-Get home from school. Do homework if there is any. Chores, piano practice, and free time.
5:00 PM-Dinner time.
8:15 PM-Start to get ready for bed.
8:45 PM-In bed. Allowed to read before going to sleep.
Related Posts
- McKenna Preteen Summary: 11.75 Years Old
- McKenna Preteen Summary: 12.25 Years Old
- Brayden Summary {12 Years Old}
- Kaitlyn Preteen Summary: 12 Years Old!
