Mum's the word: Slamming doors and new independence - welcome to the tween years

The tween years can be difficult, but by changing her approach and adapting new skills Alison Curtis is learning to negotiate the new normal.

Alison believes that despite the door slamming and occasional shouting matches, she and her daughter make a great team. 

During the first few years of my daughter’s life, I made a point of reading up on age milestones and tips for certain ages but in the past few years I have let that slide. Maybe I thought “hey I’ve got the hang of this parenting lark!” Or life just got busier and I forgot.

Since her ninth birthday in May, I have been reading more and more about 9-year-olds. What to expect, their physical and cognitive development changes in their social behaviours and milestones they should be reaching at this age. This was mainly because I feel that on the eve of turning 9 a light switch went off and all of a sudden we have a teenager living under our roof.