1. Lowes Commercial Don’t Stop
The Family Life Cycle
Lowes Commercial Don’t Stop

2. Beginning Family
The married couple establishes their home but do not yet have children.
P – young adults are at their peak; make time for fitness
I – mental stimulation of establishing a career and career goals
E – build long-term relationships
S – explore new interests with a variety of people
Developmental Tasks: Establishing a satisfying home and marriage relationship and preparing for children.

3. Childbearing Family (Infancy/Toddler Years)
From the birth of the first child until that child is 2 ½.
P – Newborns and toddlers grow more than any other time of life
I – Learn to communicate; learn cause and effect and enjoy books
E – Develop trust through bonding; needs for food, safety, cleanliness and closeness; express strong emotions and mood changes
S/M – smile; engage in parallel play; understand right from wrong
Developmental Tasks: Adjusting to increased family size: caring for an infant/toddler, providing a positive developmental environment.

4. Family with Preschoolers
When the oldest child is between the ages of 2 ½ and 6.
P – hop, run, pedal a tricycle, throw and catch a ball /
draw recognizable objects, print their names and use scissors
I – counting, colors, letters – lots of how and why questions as they learn
E – show understanding for the feelings of others
S/M – cooperative play; best friends rigid sense of right and wrong/fairness
Developmental Tasks: Satisfying the needs and interests of preschool children coping with demands on energy and attention with less privacy at home.

5. Family with School Children
When the oldest child is between the ages of 6 & 13.
P – baby teeth are replaced, bicycle and sports
I – curiosity continues; reasoning skills reading and arithmetic
E – affected by stress in the home
S/M – peer groups, negotiate and compromise in groups -care about what other people think, child’s conscience takes on a stronger role.
Developmental Tasks: Promoting educational achievement and fitting in with the community of families with school-age children.

6. Family with Teenagers
When the oldest child is between the ages of 13 & 20.
P – puberty
I – reflect on results of decisions and learn from mistakes, think in abstract terms
E – mood swings, stress, torn between wanting independence and wanting to be taken care of
S/M – spend more time with friends less time with family want to please others but peer pressure may make decision making difficult
Developmental Tasks: Allowing and helping children to become more independent coping with their independence; developing new interests beyond child care.

7. Early Adulthood (Launching Center)
From the time the oldest child leaves the family for independent adult life till the time the last departs.
Life becomes a balancing act between work, family and social commitments.
Developmental Tasks: Releasing young adults and accepting new ways of relating to them; maintaining a supportive home base; adapting to new living circumstances.

8. Middle Adulthood (Empty Nest)
From the time the children are gone till the marital couple retires from employment.
Professional goals are often realized, new hobbies or new lines of work for intellectual stimulation.
Developmental Tasks: Renewing and redefining the marriage relationship; maintaining ties with children and their families; preparing for retirement years.

9. Late Adulthood
From retirement till the death of the surviving marriage partner.
P - changes may cause older people to slow down – joints, muscles
I - Mental abilities often start to decline with age.
E – death of friends/loved ones
S – positive attitude is KEY
Developmental Tasks: Adjusting to retirement; coping with the death of the marriage partner and life alone.

10. Create a picture collage
With everyone at your table make a family life cycle collage.
Using magazines, find pictures that depict each stage of the life cycle.
Glue pictures onto construction paper in chronological order.
1. Infancy/Toddler/Preschool Years
2. School-Age Years
3. Adolescence
4. Early Adulthood
5.Middle Adulthood
6. Late Adulthood