
Not a Child or a Teen, They’re Adolescent Tweens
Between childhood and the teens, tweens begin making bigger choices that shape their future. Pediatrician’s how to guide for parents on vaccines, behavior, and transitions for tweens.
Ask nine to twelve-year-olds about their daydreams and they gleefully give pie-in-the-sky replies. Four out of five imagine being rich and the same number would lavish their funds on foreign travel. Three-quarters of so-called adolescent “tweens” imagine being smarter, more popular, famous or beautiful. Quiz this group about their worries, however, and the answers verge on grown up: families separating, the future, getting a serious disease, not having enough money.
Welcome to tween life, away station between childhood and the teen years. These kids are an energetic bundle of contradictions – the same child that giggles like a kindergartner wants to know when she can start wearing makeup to school. Children mature physically and emotionally during these years, sometimes dramatically, but they’re not ready to be their own bosses yet. Parents play an important role in promoting wellness, lending an experienced ear, and fostering healthy independence.
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