How Old Are You?
KI Age Discrepancies

**I DON'T MEAN THE AGE OF THE ACTORS, I MEAN THE AGE OF THE CHARACTERS. BIG DIFFERENCE**

You know this bugs me, anyway. Aside from Stacy being given 3 different ages that don't add up, how old are the rest of the kids?

Kid is 11 in Season 2. He says so in A Pain in the Neck (ep.33, S.2, '85). However, Stacy is 9, as we find out in One Glass Slipper (ep.34, S.2, '85). This is odd - they are later studying for the same History test in Rocking Saddles (ep.62 , S.3, '86)!

Since the beginning of the series, they have been paired with each other and you get the impression that they are closer in age. Kid does have a habit of neglecting school, however, and the idea of him being held back has come up (ep. 15, S.1, '84). Perhaps he was held back after all, and is in Stacy's grade.
Going by their rules, Kid is 12 in Season 3. Stacy is 10.

Now, where on Earth does that put Renee?? She's older than Stacy, that's all they tell us (ep. 22, S.1, '84). But how much older? Is she older than Kid? Are they the same age?

Renee isn't studying for the test. She comes in with the older kids. Either Renee is also 12, and has not failed History, so she's not studying. This one works for now. Girls mature faster than boys, and Renee as the oldest child would be groomed to act older, so she and Kid could be the same physical age.

or
Renee is 11, and has not failed History. This would make her older than Stacy, but younger than Kid, and isn't really likely.
or
Renee is 13, older than the both of them. Since the beginning of the series, and even The Beginning, Renee has been put fairly close to Gloria. Now, she's not as old as Gloria, but apparently, someone thought it was a closer match. Also, she hits adolescence before Stacy and The Kid, so she might be older.

Ok, we are now in Season 3. Let's assume for the sake of argument that Stacy is 10, Kid is 12, and Renee is 13.

Gloria? She is easily older than all 3. But how old is she? She does not yet have her driver's license (ep.63, S.3, '86). So she's not 16, but she could still be 15. She doesn't mention anything about a Learner's Permit, but she's already thinking about cars. She takes French in school (ep.32, S.2, '85). She's at least in a high school grade - possibly middle school, although I don't know if many schools did that back then. Remember that this is the 80's; I didn't get to French I until the 9th grade.

She doesn't appear to be older than Mickey, but could be the same age. [In a fantasy sequence ("Fun, Fun, Fun", ep. 14. S.1, '84), Mickey is seen driving. Sure, it's a fantasy sequence, but this still proves that he is the oldest, and he could be at driving age. ]

Based on this, I'm going to go with Gloria possibly being 15 in Season 3. This makes it easier to say that Ryan in Season 3 is about 14.

Ryan as a character was a bit harder to place, because he always acted older than he was. He's older than Renee, but still younger than Gloria. He doesn't drive. His grasp of French means he hasn't taken it yet (ep.32, S.2, '85). He's old enough to be into girls (ep. 30, S.2, '85). The only confusing matter is that this would make him 16 in Season 5, yet there is still no talk of cars.

My theory is that this is what, according to the kids (and the show) separates "kids" from "adults". No one ever makes it to driving on the show. Any mention of it usually comes in their last season. Now, I know that Jerry, Martika, and Ryan were old enough on the show to actually drive, but aside from one fantasy sequence, you never see it. Riley drives, and he is in the "adult" camp.

Mickey is much harder. If I'm right, Gloria would be 13 here. Mickey is at least older than that. Now, he might not even be old enough to have a permit, and it's hard to use one fantasy sequence as proof that he was 15 or 16. The only thing that might date him is the fact that he has seen The Palace (ep. 20, S.1, '84). However, we are never told exactly when The Palace was abandoned, when the owner bought it and made it The P*lace, or how old Mickey was when he saw it. Argh.

I'm going to say 15 in '84 anyway. I don't believe he was that much older than Gloria.

So, to recap, this is what I'm theorizing:

by Season 3, Gloria - 15, Ryan - 14, Renee - 13, Kid - 12, Stacy - 10

If Mickey had been there, he would probably be 17.

The remaining kids are going to be too hard to even think about at this point.  They are all younger than Stacy.  In Season 6 she ought to be 14 - since they say so - but then that throws off the math.  Argh.  Let's say 13-14 since we can't tell what time of year it is without weather cues.  This makes everyone else pretty young. 

By now we are out of hints.  Much later, we find out Nicole is younger than Haylie (144-9-93), but that doesn't help us at all.  Jennifer (146-9-93) says that Charlie is 15 once she begins dating him.  He appears to be older than most of the kids except Ana, I'd say.