Here's my oldest son. He thinks he's pretty cool here.
I'd say he was around 4 years old at the time.
Well, it's been a long road, and now he is 11, and starting Junior High School for the first time.
Will he be so cool now that he is a tiny little 11 year old amongst Junior High School kids who are mostly ages 12 and a half to 15 years old?
It wasn't such a big deal to skip 5th grade and go into 6th grade at an elementary school with kids mostly younger than he, but now he has moved up and all the kids are older.
Older and bigger.
Much much bigger.
During the first week of school sometime I walked a short distance from the junior high school just in time to see him getting out of school to walk home.
Yeah, I suppose I was spying a bit, but I stood behind a tree from a pretty far distance away and tried to act casual. Ha!
Anyway, out comes all these kids, these HUGE kids, these old looking, mature looking kids, and then I see my boy. Yep, he's that one about 2 feet shorter than the rest, the skinny one. And I'm not comparing him to the other boys. It's the girls who are towering above him. The boys are probably much taller.
Oh, he looked so out of place. But so what. So. How is this year really going to go? Will he like it? Is he glad to be here instead of Elementary School? Is he sorry he skipped? Will he fit in?
So far, he is doing quite well academically. Well, he always has.
Socially?
Well, remember this is the boy who has Asperger's syndrome, and although his elementary school psychologist said there were many "red flags" for not wanting him to skip grades, we still pushed to make it happen, and he did well in 6th grade. The kids were nicer.
I've asked him about friends at Junior High.
He tells me everyday he eats lunch with a certain boy who they don't even share any classes with, so I suppose the boy must want to hang out with him and not just out of coincidence.
He even tried out for the Junior High Jazz Band and made it! That's my boy! Just a little 11 year old who still managed to win a spot in an audition only jazz band where the other kids are mostly 8th and 9th graders. Kudos to him!
It is a little stressful to me seeing that I don't have much control over the boy anymore. It's a little nerve racking knowing that he is on his own in a way at such a young age. It seems like he's had to grow up so fast, and yet as I think about it, he's always been so grown up all these years. Even there at age 4, I remember the way he talked to me just wasn't normal compared to other kids. It's hard to explain.
I still want to allow him the time and not miss out on things because of his early Junior High enrollment. I'm pretty sure a lot of the kids end all dressing up and trick or treating for Halloween by Junior High time, but I don't think that's fair for him to lose a year. Although he's not going to dress up for school (I doubt that would be too cool in Junior High School), he still has plans to dress up at home and go trick or treating. It's only fair, and he should get to enjoy all the trick or treating years he can!
Only time will tell how these next few years go. Will he ever get that growth spurt to catch up with the others? Will he gain some meat on his bones? Will the other kids be able to see past his tiny size and young age? Will he be considered an equal? A peer?
