Kaitlyn Preteen Summary: 12 Years Old!

Twelve year old preteen girl information. 12 year old girl life and schedule. What the daily life looks like for a preteen, or tween, girl. 

12 year olds dressed for Mulan characters

This is a summary for Kaitlyn from 11.75 years old to 12 years old. She is now twelve years old! We are on the final countdown toward teenage life.

I am so fascinated by teen attitude. On one hand, I think you can really enjoy your teenagers and have wonderful years with them.

On the other hand, I know a teenage brain changes rapidly and in a similar manner to how a toddler brain changes. I remember those toddler tantrum days well. I remember how I freaked out when my oldest child had a tantrum the first time. I was sure I had taken a very wrong turn with him somewhere. I worried he would grow to be a terror.

I literally sat and cried. 

But time and experience taught me tantrums are normal. So I am bracing myself for attitude being normal and being okay with that, while at the same time, correcting attitude and working on the hearts of my children. Just as I didn’t allow for those “normal” toddler tantrums, I will not allow for “normal” teenage attitude. 

As you read this, you might be thinking, “But, she is 12 and you have a child who is almost 14.” Yes. But I feel like boys don’t always have an attitude like girls, and I feel like girls hit a lot of hormonal issues as teens earlier than boys, so I might have them hit at the same time. 

Adventures!

Preteen Life

EATING

Eating is good. Nothing wild or unusual here. I will say to anyone facing a picky eater with the baby, toddler, preschooler age…stick to your guns in trying to get your little one to eat foods! So worth it. Kaitlyn was my picky eater and I am so glad we worked to get her to eat. 


Read: What To Do When Your Child Does Not Like a Certain Food


SLEEPING

Sleeping has been great. Kaitlyn is a solid sleeper and sleeps well. An interesting thing is she had reflux as a baby and still prefers to sleep quite propped up. I don’t know if that is because that is how she was trained to sleep or because she still gets pain if she is not propped. 

SCHOOL

School is great! 6th grade has been a great year for Kaitlyn. She is in such a nice place with her friends and social dynamics at school. Her teacher is great. She is very excited to move to 7th grade. 7th grade is middle school here, so I anticipate some drama in middle school. 

There have been several new girls to move to the school this school year and Kaitlyn has enjoyed getting to know them and even forming best friendships with some. They have been such sweet girls and I love seeing her reaching out to new people and being rewarded with deep, kind friendships. 

PICTURES

Here are photos from this time period for Kaitlyn. 

 

ATTITUDE

As Kaitlyn got closer to age 12, she would roll her eyes or show little hints of attitude. One day she gave Brinley a dirty look during family scriptures when Brinley got in her space. 

Kaitlyn is a very sweet girl by nature, so a dirty look toward Brinley was uncharacteristic of her. I like to keep things light while letting my kids know something isn’t okay (if the situation warrants it), so I leaned forward and looked intently at Kaitlyn and said intensely, “Kaitlyn….is Brinley breathing your air?!?!?” 

She looked at me for a second as I kept a straight face and then I busted out laughing. Kaitlyn kind of shook her head, but she snapped out of her attitude. I really like this type of approach first with a teenager and attitude. A teenager knows what is and isn’t okay (assuming you have spent time teaching them up to this point). Sometimes they just need a gentle reminder they are being ridiculous.

It is akin to letting a toddler surrender with dignity. 

EXTRA CURRICULAR

Here are some notes from different activities she participated in this time period. 

  • Soccer: Soccer had a really great learning experience. Most of this time period was the winter when you just practice like crazy. In the middle of it, her team played in a tournament. The championship game came to a shootout. Kaitlyn was the goalie for it. She missed some shots, and her teammates didn’t make any shots, so they wound up with second place. She felt TERRIBLE. She was so sad. But she resolved to never feel that way again. A great thing about Kaitlyn is when she resolves something, she sees it through. She has come away from that working hard and is a much better goalie today because of it. 
  • Musical: Kaitlyn played Mulan in the musical Mulan. She loved it! It was very demanding with a lot of hours spent at home working on things. It was fun.
  • Piano: Piano has been good. Kaitlyn is a great piano player. She plays by ear so well that she really has to work to read notes and not just play the song. 

PRETEEN SCHEDULE

Here is her schedule during this time:

6:40 AM–wake up. Family scriptures, then get ready for school. Practice piano during this time.
9:00 AM–school
4:00 PM–home. Homework if needed. Free time.
5:30 PM–Dinner. Then family time and activities.
8:00-8:30 PM–in bed time. Kaitlyn showers each evening before bedtime.

Girl and boy dressed as Shang and Mulan

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