Kaitlyn Preteen Summary: 11.25 Years Old

Eleven year old preteen girl information. Schedule, extra curricular activities, and more.

This is a summary for Kaitlyn from 11 years old to 11.25 years old.

EATING

Everything is the same with Kaitlyn for eating. If you don't know, Kaitlyn is my most particular eater of my children. Brayden and McKenna eat anything anytime and love a variety of flavors. Brinley is usually the same, but has her moments (usually when she really wants to get back to playing). Kaitlyn had reflux as a baby and has always been more sensitive about her foods. She does not love many, many foods. 

That doesn't mean we give her a pass, though. I have never required that she eat foods that exacerbate heartburn, but I do require a varied diet. She eats that variety even if she doesn't love it. I thinks she would live on pasta, bread, rice, and the occasional fruit if I let her. We don't have battles at all; she just doesn't love many foods.

McKenna Preteen Summary: 9.25 Years Old

This is a preteen summary for McKenna from 9-9.25 years old. Information on a nine year old girl. Eating habits, sleep habits, and anxiety for a preteen girl.

EATING

Eating is great! It seems like every child has at least one thing that is just a non-issue in life, and for McKenna, the number one is definitely food. She eats well. She likes everything I make. She isn't picky at all. Her natural desire is to eat healthy foods over junk or sweets. 

SLEEP

Sleep is good. McKenna did have a couple of nights during this time period where she got out of bed after being put to bed because she was worrying about something. This was definitely odd for her. I would have said sleep is another one of those things that we just don't have to worry about with her, but she did have these nights of getting up after bedtime. That has since ended, but it was a thing for a bit. 

Something we did for sleep was get her a basic timer so she wouldn't stay up too late reading. She gets so into books that she blocks the world out, so we would tell her what time to stop reading and go to bed, but she didn't look at the clock until that time was long past. So we got a timer and just set it so she knows for sure what time is time to put the book down. 

Brayden Preteen Summary: 13 Years Old

This is a summary for Brayden from 12 years 9 months old to 13 years old.

My recent post on Instagram summed it up well:

Happy 13th Birthday to Brayden! Brayden surprises and impresses me almost daily. He is one of the most responsible and reliable people I know—adults included. He is an incredibly hard worker. He is faithful and fully willing to stand up for what he believes in. He does not hesitate to stand up for or protect others. He doesn’t care what “man” thinks; he cares about what is right. He is incredibly smart. I couldn’t ask for a better person to be the oldest child in our family and be an example to his younger sisters. They all look up to him immensely and love him dearly. No, he isn’t perfect, but he sure tries to do his very best every day and tries to continually improve upon his weaknesses. We sure love him! 

EATING

Eating has been great. Last time, I talked about some complaining that had been happening over food, but that didn't happen at all during this time period. 

SLEEPING

Sleeping is great! During the course of this past school year, Brayden started using an alarm clock to wake up on his own each morning. This has been handy because he wakes up about the same time I do, so I don't have to stress about hopping up and getting him up right away. One of the most amazing things about kids as they get older is how they take on personal responsibility more and more!

CHORES

Brayden is super responsible and great about staying on top of his chores. He is responsible for everything in his room (bed, cleaning, dusting, vacuuming). He has a bathroom he cleans independently. He has other rooms he vacuums. He does his own laundry. He is also in charge of our lawn care. 

Brayden usually does the chores after school and/or on weekends. MOST of his chores are done Thursday-Saturday. 

SCHOOL

School is great! He has loved seventh grade, which is such a relief! Middle school can be a painful experience for some, so I am thrilled he is half-way through and loving it. He has thrived in middle school. He got straight A's all year long. He got his state math competition results and placed in the top 4% of the 7-9 grade students there. He has kept all of his friends and made some new ones. 

I think a reason he has just loved middle school is that he is the type of person who does not care what others think. This is an age when teens try very hard to impress and please those around them, and he is just comfortable with who he is and not worried about impressing people.

As far as homework, Brayden rarely has homework. If he does, he does it soon after getting home. That is just our habit we have at our house. Homework is done first thing.  

FIRST JOB

Brayden had his first official job! He reffed soccer games this spring. He had to take a class and pass a test. Then he was able to ref games. He was very responsible about it. He was supposed to be there 30 minutes early. He was for every game but one. The other people typically all got there 5-10 minutes before. HA! He enjoyed that.

He also worked on fixing up a motorized scooter and sold that for a profit. Nate helped him a lot with it. 

Brayden is also now teaching Brinley piano lessons. We are paying him each month to be her piano teacher.

LIFE WITH TEENS

Guys I haven't read Teenwise yet (affiliate link)! I went to get it off my bookshelf and don't have it...which kind of makes sense since I only now have a teenager, but I thought I had purchased everything a while back. Fortunately Amazon tells you if you bought something or not, so I could easily see I had NOT purchased it. It is on its way!

EXTRA CURRICULARS

This is what Brayden was involved in during this time period:

• Swim team
• Piano lessons: The big news here is that his piano teacher had to stop teaching, so we spent some time researching, interviewing, and pondering new teachers. He settled on a new teacher and will start up very soon! 
• Scouts: Brayden is the patrol leader for his group. 
• Soccer: At Brayden's age, rec soccer changed to co-ed with a wide age-range. He played with 15 year olds. He had a great time! It was a lot of fun and a pretty laid-back atmosphere. 

SCHEDULE

6 AM -- Get up

7 AM -- Go to school

3 PM -- Get home

8 or 9 PM -- Bedtime

Kaitlyn Preteen Summary: 11 Years Old

11 Year old preteen girl information. Schedule for 11 year old girl.

This is a summary for Kaitlyn from 10.75-11 years old. 

EATING

Everything is continuing to go well. Every once in a while, Kaitlyn decides she is going to pound all of the vegetables in order to grow taller. HA! We had a bit of that going on.

SLEEPING

Sleeping is great. She has been easier lately to get up in the morning than she has been in the past. I don't think we have done anything specific to have impacted that. It might just be her getting more used to waking at that time...but that doesn't make a lot of sense since we had the time change thrown in there to disrupt things. The time change was moving forward, so it is "earlier," so that doesn't seem like it should have helped. 

FRIENDS

Friends have been good. She has been able to navigate through some drama, but there are still times when people are not being nice and she doesn't always dare say anything about it. It is a work in progress for her. She has great friends. 

EXTRA CURRICULAR

During this time, Kaitlyn did soccer, piano, and musical. The musical is such a fun experience for them. Kaitlyn was Sebastian in the Little Mermaid. She has a great talent for accents. 

PRETEEN

Preteen Kaitlyn is a lot of fun. We have not yet had any drama or issues. She still really looks up to both Nate and me and doesn't fight us. We have some little bouts of attitude. For a period, she was getting upset by the hair-dos I was doing...which if you follow me on Instagram you might be as annoyed and shocked as I was. She just likes very whimsical, flowy, and basically bridal hair-dos. But they also need to work for playing sports. Aaanndd they take a lot of time to create. We just rarely have a lot of time in the morning. 

Plus, you get what you get and don't get upset. 

But of course, your look is presenting who you are. So I get her caring. I wasn't okay with the attitude of ungratitude. Fortunately, Nate is really good at talking to this age group. I think it is also very helpful for a third party to step in and explain what is happening and why it isn't okay. He was able to help Kaitlyn realize she was being unkind and ungrateful. She has been fantastic about it ever since. 

CHORES

During the school year, I keep chores more minimal. The consistent regular chores that each child is responsible for are less in the school year than in the summer. They need to help with laundry each week. Kaitlyn helps sort, folds one load of laundry, and helps fold sock. She also is in charge of putting her own laundry away. On the weekend, Kaitlyn is in charge of cleaning her room. She dusts, vacuums, organizes, etc. She also cleans one bathroom and her guinea pig cage. She is also expected to clean up after herself. So the bulk of chores is done on the weekend. 

HOMEWORK

Kaitlyn has very little homework. She is able to get everything done at school and rarely needs to do work at home. 

SCHEDULE

School schedule:

7:00 AM--Wake up, get ready for school. Practice piano.

9:00 AM--At school

4:00 PM--Home. Homework if needed. Chores. Free play. 

5:00 PM--Dinner. Then family time

8:00 PM--In bed. She is allowed to read books for a bit before going to sleep. I am able to trust her to decide how long to read.

Related Posts:

• Kaitlyn Preteen Summary: 10.75 Years Old

McKenna Preteen Summary: 9 Years Old

This is a preteen summary for McKenna from 8.75 to 9 years old. This includes information on a nine year old girl. 

EATING

Eating is great. Just to illustrate how non-picky of an eater McKenna is, I asked McKenna what she wanted for her birthday dinner. I will make the birthday boy or gal the meal of her choice. 

"Um...soup." 

Huh? Soup? I mean, McKenna doesn't complain about anything we eat, and she always eats her soup all gone, but she rarely asks for seconds when we have soup and she never oohs and ahhs over how much she loves the soup.

"Are you sure you want soup? You could have anything." I pressed her.

"Yeah," she replied nonchalantly. 

I then listed off a long list of foods that are big hits at our house.

"Turkey steak!" 

That was not listed in my long list. She insisted upon it, though, so that is what we had. 

SLEEP

Sleep is great. I have to give her a time she needs to end reading at night. A "lights out" time limit. She loves to read and would probably read on late into the night if she had no restriction. To ensure she has motivation to actually check the time and turn lights out, we tell her if she consistently can't turn lights out in time, she won't get to read before bed at all. I am understanding of the occasional miss; I know I have gotten lost in a book and lost track of time! It happens. But it can't be a habit or the norm. 

SCHOOL

Last time I talked about what a golden age third grade is. Well, school is still great for McKenna, but I have been made aware of a fair amount of drama happening in her grade among some girls. It has gotten pretty bad. She hasn't been a part of it, nor have her closest friends. I am glad they have all been able to stay out of it. I mention it just so others reading these updates are aware that drama definitely can happen at this age. I typically see it start mid-fourth grade and really hit in fifth, but sadly third graders aren't immune. 

McKenna and a good friend of hers are now in charge of helping a kindergartener eat lunch and get to class. Our kindy is half day, but this boy is going all day, so he goes to lunch and then goes to the afternoon class. 

EXTRA CURRICULARS

During this time, McKenna continued her musical theater class. She was cast as Sebastian in their production (performance in May). She was excited because Kaitlyn was Sebastian in our school musical. 

McKenna also had piano lessons. She practiced soccer once a week. Then she had the musical at the school. She was a Sea Creature in our school production of the Little Mermaid JR. 

BOOKS affiliate links below

McKenna has been loving Wings of Fire, Goddess Girls, and Chronicles of Prydain. She also read a Wrinkle in Time and loved that. I wanted her to read it before she saw the movie.

SCHEDULE

7:00--wake up shower/get ready/eat/practice piano/scriptures/prayers

9:00--school

4:00--home

activities/family time/dinner

7:00--start getting ready for bed

8--in bed. Lights out by 8:30-8:45

Related Posts:

• Brayden Preteen Summary: 9 Years Old

• Kaitlyn Preteen Summary: 9 Years Old

• McKenna Preteen Summary: 8.75 Years Old

Brayden Preteen Summary: 12.75 Years Old

This is a Preteen summary for Brayden from 12.5-12.75 years old. Preteen boy information. 

EATING

Brayden has never been a picky eater. He has always been easy with food and the most I ever talk about with him is the sheer amount of food he eats.

Until now.

Imagine my surprise when he started getting grumpy about what was made for dinner. Not because he was picky about what was being made, but because he was getting particular about the food being made. He was getting in the mood for a certain food and when I didn't make that, he got moody. Grumpy. Ungrateful. It was like he was a pregnant woman with her cravings not being met. 

I didn't like that so much.

I don't know. Maybe the massive growth spurts that impact teens put them into food cravings and they feel as moody as  pregnant woman. He is growing a lot. He grew over an inch in one month. 

Even so, manners matter. Respect matters. Being grateful matters. 

I let him know that if he would prefer, he could make dinner each night so he could be in control of what was made. That wasn't of interest to him. He really didn't seem to understand what the big deal was. He just understood I didn't like him wanting to eat a certain food. 

My husband ended up talking to him and explaining things. Something about the conversation made sense to Brayden and he finally understood that he was being ungrateful. He apologized and sincerely felt bad about it. We haven't had food issues since. 

DISCIPLINE NOTE

On that note, I have to say that I have found that having the dad talk to the preteen when they are being disrespectful to mom is super, super helpful. When a child is disrespectful, it is hard to not take it personally, especially when it is an older child who knows better. You know they know better because you personally taught them better. Having the third party step in and say, "Yep, that was not okay" helps. It also helps that the third party was not the one being disrespected. It is easier for them to talk about it without emotion. I am not an emotional person, but nothing irritates me more than being disrespected. In talking with other moms, especially moms of teens, I have gathered this is a common number one irritation among mothers. We don't like it. 

SLEEPING

Sleeping is great. 

HUGGING

Physical touch is NOT Brayden's love language. We may be able to go so far as to say it is an anti-love language. No way, no how. Well, he has two sisters for whom touch is very high, if not the highest. They just want to hug him. To make everyone happy, we have a rule that he must hug each of them for 10 seconds each day. He tolerates it. They love it. I find it very amusing. 

EXTRA CURRICULARS

This is what Brayden was involved with during this time period:

• Swim team: He spent more time with swim team. He is getting old enough that it is kind of time to put more focus into what you think your main interest and pursuit will be. 
• Piano lesson: He LOVES the piano.
• Scouts

Typically in the winter, he has played basketball. He decided to not do that this year in order to have more time to focus on swimming.

He did an audition choir for a bit during this time and had fun in that, but then the swim team schedule changed and conflicted with the choir. 

SCHOOL

School is great. Brayden is loving middle school. He earned a 4.0 his second trimester. His teachers all love him. One told me that he knows if Brayden doesn't get it, he has to teach it differently because no one is getting it.

Brayden is one of two 7th graders from his school chosen to represent the school in the State Math Competition. He had a lot of fun at that (we don't know results yet). 

SCHEDULE

6 AM -- Get up

7 AM -- Go to school

3 PM -- Get home

8 or 9 PM -- Bedtime

See Also:

• Brayden Preteen Summary: 12.5 Years Old

Kaitlyn Preteen Summary: 10.75 Years Old

This is a summary for Kaitlyn from 10.5-10.75 years old.

EATING

Things are going well. I think Kaitlyn's food story is a great encouragement for anyone with a child who is a picky eater. She eats most things even when she doesn't like them. Helping your child through being picky is not an overnight process. At all. But it is a process that can be done. You can see my posts :

• Overcoming the Picky Eater and 
• 10 Mealtime Policies for Children

to help get an idea of what our policies are at our house and how she has worked through this over the years. 

SLEEPING

Sleeping is fantastic. I honestly have concerns for her teenage years because she is a sleeper. Our middle school and high school start quite early here, and she needs a lot of sleep. There have been weekends she has had to be woken up at 10 AM! So getting up for school might be a struggle. A natural way to help that would be earlier bedtimes, but in the research I have done, the circadian rhythms change drastically in a teenage brain, and they have a hard time even going to sleep at a "normal" bedtime range for a child or even adult. So I have some brainstorming to do to help make sure she gets the sleep she needs.

Sleep is obviously important to to me (hello this blog!). She has always been a child who has high sleep needs, I have recognized that and spoken about it over the years. I just have to figure out how to help her get the sleep she needs when school is early and biology is literally working against her being able to go to sleep early.

I am a low sleep needs person, and my little sister is high. She always had a hard time with getting up for school as we grew up (and having a newborn was so much harder on her with the lack of sleep than it was on me just because of our sleep needs). It is an important thing to acknowledge, accept, and try to work with.

SCHOOL

School is great. There is nothing of great interest to report on the academic side of things.

FRIENDS

There is some interest on the friendship side of things. I have typically found girls start to get mean in fourth grade, and because of that, I really prepped Kaitlyn for handling situations that might arise. She is not confrontational by nature and I wanted her to be able to stand her ground and also to stick up for other people if she saw they were being "mean-girled."

A situation recently came up with friend issues, with her not stepping in and standing up for people. I found out about it and we had a talk. You can read about that in my post How to Teach Your Child to Love Others. A lot of good came of our talk. Since I have written that post, she has faced difficult days where people she has stood up to have not appreciated it and have turned against her and tried to get others to turn against her. Fortunately, people have stood behind her. I have always emphasized with my children that if you are always kind to others, then when others say mean things about you, people won't believe it. That has been true.

And things are so roller-coaster-y. One day, everything is great. The next, she has her friends who can be mean mad at her. That afternoon, everything is fine. She is taking it well, though. Both Nate and I have had to be there for her to talk and talk and talk and talk to about it all. We have offered our insight and encouragement. She needs to be able to talk about it freely and to be encouraged that yes, it is the right thing for you to stand up for other people. You are making the right choice. Continue to be kind. Do not say unkind things about others when they say unkind things about you.

This is only the beginning for us. 

I am interested to see what things are like with our other daughters. Brayden, being male, doesn't have this same level of drama. We all know that is not typically how males operate, and Brayden is very, very logical.

I am interested with the other girls to see how things go since they all have different personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. It is a heavy thing to help guide your child through these difficulties. The responses you encourage and counsel will shape how your child responds and how their character develops. 

EXTRA CURRICULAR

During this time period, Kaitlyn did soccer, piano, and basketball. She also started the musical.

SCHEDULE

School schedule:

7:00 AM--Wake up, get ready for school. Practice piano.

9:00 AM--At school

4:00 PM--Home. Homework if needed. Chores. Free play. 

5:00 PM--Dinner. Then family time

8:00 PM--In bed. She is allowed to read books for a bit before going to sleep. I am able to trust her to decide how long to read.

Related Posts:

• Kaitlyn Summary: 10.5 Years Old
• Brayden Summary: 10.5 Years Old
• Brayden Preteen Summary: 10.75 Years Old

McKenna Preteen Summary: 8.75 Years Old

This is a summary for McKenna from 8.5-8.75 years old. 

EATING

McKenna is a great eater. Eating has never been a issue with her. When I think about that, I think of small mercies we get as parents, because I think every child has at least that one thing that is a challenge to deal with as a parent, but then there will be very easy things about that child. Sleep and eating have always been easy and fantastic with McKenna.

SLEEP

So on that line, sleep is great. No issues. 

SCHOOL

School is going great for McKenna. Now that I am on my third child in third grade, I can easily say I think third grade is such a golden age. All of my kids loved their third grade experience so far. I just think this age group is kind of in a an easy time of the growing years, so things go well. I have determined if I were to teach school, third grade would be at the top of my list for ages I would want to teach. 

McKenna has a new girl in her class this year who can be a little difficult at times. I suspect the girl is either highly gifted or on the spectrum or perhaps both. This girl does not understand social skills. One day at dinner, we were just talking in general about being kind to others and making sure you include people who may be lonely. 

McKenna is a strong-willed soul. That has its definite challenges in parenting. McKenna has been my hardest child overall in the discipline department. However, when you have a strong-willed child who is focused on the right path, life can be very easy as a parent. McKenna can be very black and white. Her teacher has had all three of my older children so far, and she commented that McKenna follows the rules perfectly--even better than Brayden and Kaitlyn did. This blows me away, because at home, she is my hardest. 

Anyway, when I talked about including everyone, McKenna basically internalized, "There is a girl at school who needs a friend. Mom says to include everyone. I will include her." McKenna's friends are all very sweet with very sweet mothers. I have no doubt that when McKenna said to her friends, "Let's invite this girl to play with us so she has friends," the voices of these mothers were in her friends' heads because they have no doubt taught their girls the same thing. So it was easy to do. 

I am so proud of her and who she is. Her strong-willed nature can be hard at times as a parent, but I have always tried to keep my focus on the fact that if her heart is good and her desires are right, it will serve her well, so that is where I focused. I hope she stays on this path, and I will do what I can to help her do so. 

I hope that gives any of you out there struggling with the strong-willed toddler some hope for the future. 

LEADER IN ME

Along that note, McKenna's teacher chose her as the "Leader In Me" recipient for her class in December. Those are always happy payout moments. 

EXTRA CURRICULARS

McKenna is playing competitive soccer and that was in full force during this time period. She has a great little team with fun girls. She is also taking a musical theater class that she is enjoying. She is learning all about singing, acting, auditioning, moving, etc. She also has piano lessons. She also played basketball during this time.

SCHEDULE

Here is her school schedule

6:45--wake up and run (prepping for a mile run for school)

shower/get ready/eat/practice piano/scriptures/prayers

9:00--school

4:00--home

activities/family time/dinner

7:00--start getting ready for bed

8 or 8:30--in bed

RELATED POSTS

• Kaitlyn Preteen Summary {8.75 Years Old}
• Brayden Preteen Summary: 8.75 Years

Brayden Summary: 12.5 Years Old

This is a summary for Brayden from 12-12.5 years old.

EATING

Eating is great and usual. He eats a lot, but he isn't eating amounts that I find crazy. 

I should say, though, that my husband eats a whole lot more than the average man. My dad did, also. It will take a lot of food being consumed for me to be impressed. 

SLEEPING

Sleeping is great. Brayden is wanting more to just head to bed without us going into his room to tell him good night. He is growing up! Sniff.

EXTRA CURRICULARS

Brayden is doing swim team still. 

He has piano lessons going on. 

He did the musical at the middle school this fall. 

He also has scouts.

That is basically what he is involved in right now. It is enough! The musical is over, but the other things are mostly year-round. 

SCHOOL

School is going great! Brayden has loved middle school and has thrived there. He ended up getting a 4.0 in his first trimester. At his parent/teacher conferences, all of his teachers had great things to say about him. 

ATTITUDE

At this point, we do not have attitude issues with Brayden. I know this age, a bit younger, and older can be times of attitude and difficulty with dynamics of relationships. I really don't know, since he is always my first, if this is because it is just his natural disposition. I don't know if we are doing a good job of allowing him the appropriate amount of freedom. So much about life with him is just a lot of guesswork and hoping and praying we are doing things right :) . 

SCHEDULE

6 AM -- Get up

7 AM -- Go to school

3 PM -- Get home

8 or 9 PM -- Bedtime

Kaitlyn Summary: 10.5 Years Old

This is a summary for Kaitlyn from 10.25-10.5 years old. 

EATING

The other night at dinner, Kaitlyn declared that she was getting to be less and less picky lately. I have notice that, also. She is getting better and better about quickly eating what she has before her. I just want all of you facing a picky eater out there to hold tight and press on! Have your rules and requirements. Stick to those. Have the picky eater try new foods and continue to eat portions of foods they don't like. Do not make separate meals for that picky eater. Be reasonable in your rules, but have them and stick to them. Your payout day will come. It will probably take YEARS. But I look back and I am so glad I stayed strong. 

SLEEPING

Sleeping is great. Kaitlyn is a sound sleeper. 

NEW ROOM

At the end of this time period, we finished Kaitlyn's new  bedroom. She moved out and is in her own room now and no longer sharing. She was super excited for this development. She declared her room would always stay clean. I wasn't so sure. But it has been a month and she has! She has kept it very clean. We could still be in the "newness" of it all. But now all of the kids are in their own rooms and all keeping their rooms very clean. I have found sharing kids have a harder time keeping their room clean. I think it is hard for them to really distinguish who belongs to what mess. So it takes more effort to keep things neat and organized. Kaitlyn is in the noisiest bedroom in the house. We decided to put her there because she is a sound sleeper and doesn't stress out about sleep. If Brayden can't sleep, he gets worried. Brinley is a light sleeper. McKenna is a deep sleeper and would have been fine there, too. 

SUMMER

The remainder of summer was great for her. She played soccer and we had our big NYC trip. 

SCHOOL

School started back up during this time period. Things are going well at school. Kaitlyn loves her teacher. She has always loved her teachers. Last year she loved her teacher so much she was sure she would never like another teacher again, but she is loving her teacher. We have such great teachers at our school, so her risk of not liking a teacher is very low.

EXTRA CURRICULAR

Kaitlyn did soccer. Her team did very well. They went to a state level of competition and took first place in their division this fall. They will move to a harder division this spring. She also did piano.

BRACES OFF

Kaitlyn got her pre-braces off during this time period. She is, of course, thrilled. She will get braces back on once all of her baby teeth fall out. Now we just have the stress of the retainer. It is such an expensive item for a ten year old to he hauling around in her mouth and having to eat at school. I told her if she lost it, her only Christmas present would be a new retainer. It is $200 to replace it, so I fully mean that. She has been very, very responsible with it. Hopefully once Christmas passes, she will be in a solid habit and stay responsible.

SCHEDULE

School schedule:

7:00 AM--Wake up, get ready for school. Practice piano.

9:00 AM--At school

4:00 PM--Home. Homework if needed. Chores. Free play. 

5:00 PM--Dinner. Then family time

8:00 PM--In bed. She is allowed to read books for a bit before going to sleep. I am able to trust her to decide how long to read.

Related Posts:

• Kaitlyn Summary: 10.25 Years Old
• You Don't Have To Like It, But You Do Have to Eat It
• Picky Eaters
• Brayden Summary: 10.5 Years Old

McKenna Preteen Summary: 8.5 Years Old

This is a summary for McKenna from 8.25-8.5 years old. 

EATING

McKenna eats well. She eats a large volume of food and always has. She is also high 90s in percentile or off the charts for height at all times, and I would imagine she has needed to eat more because she has thus far grown faster than children typically do. 

SLEEPING

McKenna sleeps well. She has high sleep needs.

SCHOOL

Half of this period was summer and half was school. School is going well. She loves her teacher and things are going well.

SUMMER

Summer was great. A great thing about summer for McKenna is she can definitely get the sleep she needs. She can sleep in if needed and stays well-rested. 

She enjoyed our trip to New York City. She didn't mind the crowds at all. 

EXTRA CURRICULARS

During the summer, McKenna was involved in competitive soccer practices. As school started, games started up. Her team is doing quite well so far. She is taking piano lessons again. A new thing she is doing this year is a musical theater class, so they are learning singing, dance, and acting. She is really enjoying that! 

FAVORITES (this section contains affiliate links)

McKenna's favorite book series right now is Wings of Fire. She is also really enjoying Matilda. She loves beanie boos and rollerblading. 

SCHEDULE

Here is her school schedule

6:45--wake up and run (prepping for a mile run for school)

shower/get ready/eat/practice piano/scriptures/prayers

9:00--school

4:00--home

activities/family time/dinner

7:00--start getting ready for bed

8 or 8:30--in bed

Related Posts:

• Brayden Preteen Summary: 8.5 Years Old
• Kaitlyn Preteen Summary: 8.5 Years Old

Brayden Summary: 12.25 Years Old

This summary covers the summer for Brayden. He is now a quarter of the way into being 12. He had a lot of new events this summer in his life. At the end of it, he started middle school, which is a whole different new activity. I think there will probably be big changes over the course of this year. I have observed that when children get into middle school, they start growing up quickly.

EATING

Eating is the same. He eats the same amounts and eats well. 

SLEEPING

Sleeping is great  There is nothing new to report here.

EXTRA CURRICULARS

This summer, Brayden did swim team and piano lessons. We have traditionally taken the summer off for piano, but he really enjoys it and opted to do that instead of any sort of summer camp.

SCOUT CAMP

Brayden is now in Boy Scouts and attended his first week-long camping trip this summer. He had fun, but definitely came home fully exhausted. The craziest part of this trip was that we had gone camping as a family right before this. He got home at 5 PM one evening and left at 6 AM the next morning. Then he was home for two days before we left for New York City for 8 days. He was away from home a lot. He is an introvert and loves his time at home. We talked about this three week span for a couple of months prior to get him mentally prepared. That definitely helped  because he is one who really benefits from thinking things through before they happen. He was my child more than any other who did best with a five minute warning before an activity changed or naptime started. 

12 YEAR OLD TRIP

Nate's parents do something fun. When each grandchild turns 12, they take him/her on a vacation. This summer, Brayden went with one of his cousins on his 12 year old trip. They went to California for a week. He had a lot of fun there! So since Brayden spent time in California this summer and time in New York this summer, I tell him he went from sea to shining sea. 

LIKES SHOPPING?

One weird thing happened this summer. Brayden has never enjoyed shopping for clothes. It is TORTURE for him! But this summer, when it came time to go shopping, he was actually...happy?!? Excited! He enjoyed it. He commented on how it was actually fun. It was so odd. But it was nice to have him actually enjoying the experience. He said he wanted to look nice so the teachers would know he is serious and a good student. 

SCHEDULE

For the summer, he had more of a pattern than a schedule.

He got up, usually around 7 AM because that is just how he has always been. He would get ready and do his chores. He would practice piano. We had lunch at lunch time. He had swim team in the afternoon. We would have dinner. He would go to bed around 9 PM.

In his spare time, he would mostly be with friends or his sisters, read, or build LEGOs. 

Kaitlyn Summary: 10.25 Years Old

This is a summary for Kaitlyn from 10 years to 10.25 years old. Kaitlyn is an easy child. She was an angel baby and so far has continued to be an angel personality type as she has gotten older.

EATING
I often talk about how Kaitlyn is my "picky" eater. I don't know if it is fair to call her picky because I think most of what seems picky is her response to having reflux--certain foods bring her pain and she doesn't like them. She does have issues with textures, too, though.

Kaitlyn continued her growth spurt, and it seemed to only increase. But that makes for basically about 6 months of 'growth spurt', so maybe it isn't that so much as as increased appetite because she is getting closer to teenager. The crazy thing to me is that Kaitlyn is going into fifth grade, and in fifth grade, I got to be the height I am and stopped growing. I don't think Kaitlyn will get and stay her final height, though. She could, but that isn't my guess.

SLEEPING
Sleeping is great. Kaitlyn is a great sleeper.

SCHOOL
School ended well. She is looking forward to school starting up again. One of her favorite things about school is her friends.

EXTRA CURRICULAR
During this time, Kaitlyn had piano, soccer, and swimming. She has passed off all of her swimming levels, but during the summer, our teacher ran her through workouts during lessons. I want my kids to stay up on their swimming skills. I also want swim team to remain a possible option at all times, so I want the skills to stay strong. Swimming around just for fun won't necessarily do that.

Kaitlyn loves soccer. A lot. Her soccer team took first place in a soccer tournament this summer, which was super exciting for them!

SUMMER CAMP
Kaitlyn did a short dance camp this summer to keep her dance skills up-ish. With her having an interest in theater, she needs to be able to dance.

She also did a rock climbing camp. That was her very favorite camp she has ever done. She was nervous because she hadn't been rock climbing before. She was doing it with McKenna, who is a really good rock climber. She admitted she worried she would be embarrassed about her little sister being better than she. But she worked through that emotion and accepted it would just be true. A great quality Kaitlyn has is perseverance. She is always willing to work to get good at something. She worked! And she improved immensely and now she loves to rock climb.

SCHEDULE

Here is her summer schedule:

Wake up, eat breakfast, get ready.

Outside time.

Chore time.

12:00 lunch

SSR

Free time.

5:00 dinner. Then time with family.

8:30 in bed

Related Posts:

• Brayden Preteen Summary: 10.25 Years Old
• Kaitlyn PreTeen Summary {10 Years Old!}

McKenna Summary: 8.25 Years Old

This is a summary for McKenna from 8-8.25 years old.

EATING

Eating is the same as always. McKenna eats well. 

SLEEPING

Sleep is good. She still needs a lot of sleep. I would guess she will be that way for life. 

SCHOOL

Some of this period was during the school year. School was great! 

EXTRA CURRICULARS

McKenna had dance going on. She loves to dance and loves to perform on stage. She played rec soccer. She had piano lessons. 

McKenna was on the swim team, but wanted to play competitive soccer. We only allow one competitive team at a time (unless the seasons don't overlap, but swimming is year round). So she had to decide. She went with soccer. She has been practicing with a competitive team. Their season will start in the Fall. 

This summer, she did a rock climbing camp. Rock climbing is one of her very favorite activities and ever since it ended, she has been talking about wanting to do another one.

FRIENDS
As I looked over Kaitlyn's summary for this age, I was reminded that Kaitlyn had some friend drama going on already at this age. I am so glad that McKenna thus far has not had drama with friends. Her friends bicker at times, but there isn't any manipulation or anything. I am so glad to avoid that issue for a while longer!

FAVORITES
McKenna loves to be active. She always wants to be moving and using her muscles. She also loves reading. Nancy Clancy (affiliate link) is a favorite book series right now. She loves to play board games, and she often plays Sleeping Queens (affiliate link) with Brinley. 

SCHEDULE

Here is her summer schedule:

Wake up, eat breakfast, get ready.

Outside time.

Chore time.

12:00 lunch

SSR

Free time.

5:00 dinner. Then time with family.

8:30 in bed

Related Posts

• Brayden Preteen Summary: 8.25 Years
• Kaitlyn Preteen Summary {8.25 Years Old}

Brayden Summary {12 Years Old}

This is a summary for Brayden from 11.75-12 years old. At this point, I am not sure what to call him. Preteen seems too young considering that 8 year olds are also preteens. I think I will go with "tween."

EATING

Eating continues on. I am bracing myself for major food increase. He eats a lot, but not insane amounts. I am still waiting. 

SLEEPING

Sleep has been going well. I recently wrote on preteen sleep needs, so if you want to know what  preteen needs there, check that out. After Brayden is in bed each night, he is allowed to read. We let him decide when to stop reading and go to sleep. He is good and responsible about it.

SCHOOL

School is good! He is graduating from elementary (as I write this, it was just today). He is getting ready to move on to Jr. High. He is very excited to move on. 

SWIM TEAM

Swim team is going well. He has been moved up to the Gold B team. They have two Gold teams, and the Gold B is the lower tear for the Gold. He has some days when he  swims for two hours straight! I can't believe he can do it. Then he comes home and goes and rides his bike for a couple of miles. I need to bottle the energy of children...

BRACES

Brayden recently got braces. Now I get to stomp around and bemoan the fact that I have two in braces and the difficulties of that financially. No...but really. There has been talk of McKenna going to braces soon, and I recently decided she can wait until Brayden or Kaitlyn is out (I am sure it will be Brayden first). I don't want to bemoan the financial state of three in braces all at once. 

EXTRA CURRICULARS

There were some fun things going on this time period. We finished up the musical. Brayden was Captain Hook in Peter Pan. It was really his perfect part. He played the character so well. 

He also finished up basketball and started and finished soccer. 

He continued on the piano. He really enjoys the piano and has decided to continue taking lessons through the summer this year for the first time. I always give the kids the option (I do start two weeks before school starts just so they can get back in the swing of things before they have to focus on school). 

SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS

Now that Brayden is 12, he is wondering about social media accounts. When can he get one? Many people at school are getting them at 12 (which is pretty old compared to much of the nation). I recently wrote on this topic, and Federal Law protects children only under the age of 13, so at the least, my children will be 13. I still have a year to ponder my full stance more. 

A little parenting hint, when your child informs you that "everyone" is doing something, ask for a list of "everyone" and return that list with the people you know who don't fall in that "everyone" list. This is why moms should talk to each other. You can reverse it for the "no one." So when you hear "Everyone has a smart phone!" or "Everyone has Instagram!" get the list, return your own, and continue on. 

SCHEDULE

7 AM--Get up, get ready. Practice piano. Free time until school

9 AM--School

4:00 PM--Home. Homework if there is any. Freetime.

5:00 PM--Dinner

8:30 PM--Bed

In the evening, swim team and any other sports he is playing also happen.

Kaitlyn PreTeen Summary {10 Years Old!}

This is a summary for Katilyn between 9.75-10 years old. She is really at an easy stage right now. She is very self-driven and stays on top of the thing she needs to. She has very varied interests. She loves to do theatre. She loves to play sports like basketball and soccer. She considers herself more of a tomboy--meaning she prefers sports and isn't one to wear skirts or dresses other on Sundays. She also loves to draw and to write stories. She loves animals. She is very smart and a good student. There isn't a "one-size" Kaitlyn fits into, and she amazes me constantly with her personal drive and her willingness to work to get good at something. 

EATING

Kaitlyn went through a period of eating a whole lot and also grew quite a bit in that period. This is a huge growth spurt, but it is a growth spurt. The size difference in a 10 year old and 11 year old is quite significant. She is entering a time period when growth is rapid and children her age change a lot. 

SLEEPING

Sleeping is great. Kaitlyn is a deep sleeper and sleeps well no matter what is going on. 

SCHOOL

School is very good. Kaitlyn recently told me she has never enjoyed school so much and the days just fly by. Fourth grade is a common time for girls to get really mean toward each other. Kaitlyn hasn't run into issues with that this year. There are some tiffs here and there, but no big blow outs. 

EXTRA CURRICULAR

In this time period, Kaitlyn had piano lessons as she does most of the year. She finished up basketball. She started and continued soccer. She finished up the school musical.

BOOKS

Affiliate links ahead. This does not increase your cost in any way. Heroes of Olympus and Wings of Fire are her two very favorite book series. 

SCHEDULE

Here is her school schedule:

7:00 AM--Wake up and get ready.

9:00 AM--School

4:00 PM--Home. Homework and chores. Then free play. 

5:00 or 5:30 PM--Dinner. Then family time.

7:30 PM--Get ready for bed.

8:00 PM--In bed.

Related Posts:

• Kaitlyn PreTeen Summary {9.75 Years Old}

• Brayden Preteen Summary: 10 Years Old

Brayden Preteen Summary {11.75 Years}

This is a summary for Brayden from 11.5-11.75 years old.

EATING

Eating is good. Things were all pretty much the same. He eats a lot of food (though I know it will only increase). 

SLEEPING

We continued on with no stress issues about sleep, which marks 6 months! He got a little worried at the time change when he was going to bed Saturday night and realized it was like it was later than it was, especially because our church starts at 9 so he can't really sleep in on Sunday. I told him it was okay and reminded him not to stress about it and he was fine.

EXTRA CURRICULARS

Brayden continued with piano and swimming. With piano, he has started to arrange songs. You can see a short clip of one he recently did above. He really, really enjoys playing instruments. Swimming is going well. He continually dropped time at his meets. Brayden also played in another basketball league during this period.

A big thing in his life is the school musical. We did Peter Pan JR and Brayden played Captain Hook. It is his favorite part to date, and he executed it flawlessly. It was so fun to watch. 

Check me out on Instagram to see photos and videos of our goings ons.

SCIENCE FAIR

Brayden entered the school science fair this year. He took first place for his project. 

JR HIGH

Jr. High is on our horizon. Ack! He registered for Jr. High a few weeks ago. Next fall you might find me curled up in a ball on my bed crying when school starts as I have my oldest enter Jr. High and my youngest kindergarten. Sniff.

SCHEDULE

7 AM--Get up, get ready. Practice piano. Free time until school

9 AM--School

4:00 PM--Home. Homework if there is any. Freetime.

5:00 PM--Dinner

6:00 PM--Swim Team

8:00/8:30 PM--Bed