I would want it patched in. Honestly I feel like some of these things should have already been in game. I think that when they released the game they decided to double down on what they chose and have only started to go back because they want to get more money before the game ends. Or rather, before they release their new iteration and expect us to buy that one and stop playing this one like they assumed would happen with sims 3.
In my opinion, it always should have been something along the lines of:
Baby(newborn probably more movable but they are better now)> Infants>Toddlers (2-4)> Little Kids(5-6)>Children (7-11)>Preteens(12 irl but in game myb 12-14)> Teens(15-17) >YA(18-29)> Adult(30-49)> Middle-Aged(50-60)> Retiree(60-65)> Elder(65+)
And for the in-between stages rather than making them super long, extending the sims life and then having these stages shorter than their counter parts.
Like you're a little kid for less time than you are a child and less time than you are a toddler. Or perhaps even more time or the same. That you are a Toddler because you're only a toddler for a few years. And you're only a Little Kid for a few years and then you're a child for maybe like 5 years.
Similarly you're Pre-teens for a short amount of time. But that will allow for more distinction between playstyle, between the different things in game, even the puberty stuff they added in. And if they're gonna make teen look like Mini adults, it'd be interesting for them to at least have that awkward phase for a little bit. And we'd finally have a height slider!
I also think that everything in game is still heavily focused on young adults. We have recently gotten family contact. However, it doesn't really do all that much for sims over a certain age. And it's reductive for it to just be you're an adult and then you're old. Like it is a game but still. They can't even woo-hoo without unaliving. I think adding a few shorter lifestages after adulthood would be beneficial. They don't have to be as long as the main ones. But they could change a lot. Midlife crisis would actually happen to a middle-aged sim. You could retire before your back goes out. Also early retirement should be an option anyway. I might be more interested in playing with older sims if it wasn't a constant ticking of the time bomb for them. Give them the shot to enjoy their age more.
So yeah patch in Preteens, but also Little Kids going to Kindergarten and reading their first chapter book. Preteens learning how awkward middle school is. First crushes, not having crushes at all, Saturday morning cartoons, and a lemonade stand you kept from elementary school summers. Worrying about entering high school. And then go to adults who aren't YA anymore, and aren't even just in the got it mostly figured out phase anymore, firmly middle-aged they know what they know now. They've done a lot. They've got time ahead of them, but the stress of the day to day may get to them. And then our Retirees they're chilling. They managed to survive, some had only rags and are rich now, some had 100 kids and at least 20 want to take care of them in their old age. Others still just lived, loved, worked, and now get to go explore tombs, visit planets, and camp out. Most importantly they can still woo-hoo. And once they're elders they'll pass down the keepsake box and spend their time on more relaxing pursuits.
