Stages of Development Part Two - The Middle Ages

Tweenies (age 7- 12)

These intermediate tutorials are for those of you who have experienced the delight of being a Daddy of Leg Limpets but who not yet endured the frustration of a Father of Teenagers. You have progressed to the Middle Ages, where your Little People are Inbetweenies, or “Tweenies” for short, who have moved up from babyhood but are definitely nowhere near adulthood. It is a time of great exploration, imagination and participation and the person they want to lead them is YOU. YOU are at the zenith of your position as THE DAD, MY DAD, THE BEST DAD IN THE WORLD and never again will you be held in such esteem by anybody else – so enjoy it, because it only lasts about 5-7 years and there’s a lot of fun to be had doing all the things that you always wanted to do, but your Mum never let you.

There is a danger in this period, that you will just unconsciously accept their presence and get on with your family life, incorporating them where and when it is most convenient; after all, they are now fully mobile, semi-literate, capable of fending for themselves amongst their peers and reasonably good at scavenging if you are not there to drag a mammoth back to the cave. However, in so doing, you will remove from yourself one of the great joys of being a Dad, that of teaching and socialising your children and, when you look back through the album of your children’s youth, you’ll wonder why all the pictures of them from about 7 to 12 years old are blurred and you have no clear memory of what they did. They need you now more than ever on moral and mental levels as well as physical level: this is when they learn all about the world that surrounds them. At the same time, you have to set the foundations for their development as adults: if they are left to roam the streets unrestrained, abusing people or property then they will turn into problem teenagers.

So save your self and society the hassle in the next few years and put in the investment in time and effort now. It will be worth it…