Tween troubles

Mandache clan
An important, and quite scary development has happened in the Mandache household this month. We now have 3 tweens at home (2 ten year olds and an 11 year old). Thankfully, I still have little A. at home to balance out all the moodiness. I've been remembering the Cbeebies show "The Tweenies" for some reason. I wonder why they called it that, when the characters were all pre-schoolers? I can make a few comparisons between the colourful characters in that show and my own clan at home :) L1. would be Bella, the bossy one who can be a bit of a know-it-all, L2. would be Fizz, the girly one always playing with her hair, A1. would be Milo, the winder-upper, and A2. would be Jake, the youngest one who gets frustrated if he can't keep up with the older ones. I know they like to think they are no longer little kids, but they can often argue like toddlers the way their Tweenie twins do! Of course I will never tell them my comparisons which make me smile, they would be mortified...


My tweens have long outgrown Cbeebies, in fact even A. no longer watches it. I have to say "The Tweenies" and some of the other Cbeebies shows they used to know and love, would be far preferable to their new TV preferences. I would go so far as to say I hate Spongebob and his stupid crabby patties. The only saving grace is being able to deliberately mispronounce the name, much to the annoyance of his young fans. Try it, there are numerous wrong combinations (Bobsponge Pants Square, Pants Square Bob Sponge...) and it winds them up no end! Another one to avoid is Uncle Grandpa, which after about 30 seconds has me leaving the room. Thankfully there are some shows we can enjoy as a family, "Britain's Got Talent" must be the Saturday night saviour for many a UK family... a welcome escape from yet another Lego Ninjago episode.

I admit to finding the moodiness (for incredibly stupid reasons) quite soul destroying, and it will only get worse. My best way of handling it is to try to ignore the moods as much as possible, if I think it's for really trivial things, I send them to their rooms until they cheer up. I found their moods ended up sending me into the depths of gloom too, so I no longer allow that to happen. Have you found your tweens to be moody? How do you handle their ups and downs? I watched the video of the mum who lip synced her 4 year old having a temper tantrum to try and make her see the funny side and not take things so seriously. I wonder if this would work for moody tweens too?....

http://metro.co.uk/2015/05/13/mum-lip-syncs-her-4-year-olds-temper-tantrum-5194870/

I'm clinging on to being able to choose clothes for them all, but I know my days as their fashion adviser are numbered. I am also having to buy clothes for teenagers as they are all so tall. It's disappointing that age appropriate clothes are not so readily available to my kids. Surely there's a business idea there somewhere...

I'm also amazed by the vanity about their appearance. My son is extremely fussy about his hair, and I'm told quite a few boys nearly miss the bus after school swimming due to their gel habits!The girls are pestering me to let them get their ears pierced, but are making do with stick-on glittery fakes for the time being. A. has not yet reached the fussy, vain stage...he'd quite happily wear his favourite crocodile costume very day if I let him.

Yes, I am finding it difficult adjusting to this new stage of their lives. I'm watching their early childhood fade away, the toys they once played with for hours being replaced with electronics and TV. Lego, Monster High and drawing are still popular, so I haven't completely lost the battle to limit the screen time, and I'm determined not to. We're going on holiday soon, escaping the miserable Scottish weather of recent. I asked them to choose 4 songs each for playing in the car when we get there...we'll now be driving around enjoying "Pink Fluffy Unicorns", "The Duck Song", and the obligatory "Frozen" songs...maybe I've still got a few more years of innocent childhood yet.

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