These days my daughter is looking more like a teen than a tween.  She’s catapulted into junior clothes sizing which is essentially the same as a small adult.  Her physical appearnace tricks me into treating her as older than her chronological age.

I became acutely aware of this while driving in the car recently.  My daughter commented that the song playing on the radio was one of her favorites.  I commented that it was a pretty risque  song for someone her age.  With a look and tone of valid bewiderment, she asked, “What do you mean?”  It was evident that my daughter did not understand the subtle sexual inuendos of the words.  She simply enjoyed the song for it’s muscial appeal. 

As children enter adolescence, parents need reminders like this that a rapidly maturing packaging is not necessarily an indication of cognitive and emotional maturity.  Tweens – especially adult-sized ones – continue to need their innocence protected and respected.  They need parents to censor information that can easily be misinterpreted and even frightening.

With so many years of mature concerns awaiting them, tweens deserve the freedom of ignorance.