So we were at the GP Friday (Another chest infection. Good thing he actually likes banana liquid.) and also there were two other boys.
They came over to us when they saw Adam was wearing a Fireman Sam shirt and were asking Adam about it. Adam, of course, did not answer as he’s not big on talking to strangers.
The younger boy said, ‘Doesn’t he talk?’
I said, ‘Of course he talks, but he’s not yet three. How old are you?’
‘I’m three!’
‘How long have you been three? When is your birthday?’
His big brother said, ‘October is his birthday.’
So I said ‘See? You’ve been three for *ages*! He’s not three for two more months, so he’s only two.’
At that point they got called in to see the GP so I couldn’t ask my next question which was ‘And which preschool are you going to in September?’
Because it is very likely that his boy, who will be four two months after the start of preschool, will be in the same class as Adam. Who will be three three months before preschool starts.
That’s nearly a year apart in age. In the same class.
I know they have to have cut off dates and some kids have to be the youngest in the class, but I don’t know why they can’t split the year and have two classes. So children turning three from 1st July to 31st December go in the morning with those turning three from 1st January to 31st June going in the afternoon. Or something similar. Wouldn’t that make more sense than having just turned three year olds in the same class as just about to turn four year olds?
Because at that age? It shows. That 3.6 year old was miles ahead of my 2.10 year old in terms of verbalization, self-assuredness, really everything I could see in a five minute interaction at the GP’s. The only thing they matched on was height, and that’s only because Adam is so tall.
Which is another worry. Already more than one person has commented on such a big boy acting like such a baby at times. When questioned, they assume he’s three or even four. He’s not. He’s two. Nearly three, but really still two. And he acts two.
He has a dummy, he’s just beginning to be articulate around other people and it’s not all that often that he is and they can understand him. He still has milk out of a bottle. And he’s no where ready to be potty trained. Which he has to be to start school in September. He still naps at least an hour a day.
Within the next year or two none of this will matter, of course. Nearly five and just four are a lot closer than nearly four and just three. And it will get closer and closer as he goes through school. Soon his peers will catch up with his height, even if he remains tall, he won’t stick out so much. Eventually.
But a Mummy worries.
So I worry.
I worry he’ll be picked on or overlooked. I worry he’ll have no friends and no one will come to his birthday parties. I worry about things I can’t do a damn thing about, which I hate and refuse to do in everything else.
Being a Mummy is hard in ways I never expected.
And I do hate the unexpected.
Hello there,
Our preschool class definitely had that issue. In October, there was some massive children (mostly boys) who were already 5 years old mixed with some that were just 3. It is a large gap in age, maturity and ability and it certainly shows. The children do not necessarily handle it well on their own, it takes a good deal of guidance from the teaching staff to prevent the young/small ones from getting picked on. All the best for your little Adam!
So worst case is you decide to hold him back for a year and then he has the advantage. That’s what happened to Ben and it certainly didn’t hurt him.