He could have started on-time and left the house every morning by 7:15am. Instead, he and I lingered in our PJs until about 8:15am and leisurely drove to preschool. (The long way, of course.) He could have started on time and faced more seat time and less play time. Instead, he enjoyed another year of unstructured play, lots of dress-up, and most Fridays at home. He could have started on-time and figured out bathroom stalls, long hallways, and how to balance a full cafeteria tray. Instead, he enjoyed lunches and snacks delivered to his classroom and learning how to pour his own milk.
Like it or not, there are certain demands placed upon our school-aged children. These demands are exactly what made being born in September way more than just being born in September. While I am not necessarily ready to fight the status quo, I can certainly do what it takes to protect my child from the effects of it.
I decided to red shirt my September Boy and it was absolutely the right thing for us. As our school year is approaching the end, I see that giving him the gift of time was the best gift we could have given him. He started school when he was ready, which translated into being confident, happy, and excited about learning. He loves school in a way that I doubt he would have felt without having the extra time. I definitely gave him an advantage, but not one that had anything to do with his future physical abilities. I have no idea if he will be bigger, taller, or faster than the other boys in his class, and quite frankly, I’m not sure that I care. What matters to me now is that he is a happy, vibrant, little boy who adores school and I’ll take happy over fast any day.
Melanie Forstall Lemoine is a full-time mother, full-time wife, full-time teacher, and never-enough-time blogger at Is It Just Me? Stories of Love, Life, and Mothering. She holds a doctorate in education and yet those many years of schooling have proved to be utterly useless when it comes to actual mothering. She’s been published on Scary Mommy, Red Tricycle, and Sammiches & Psych Meds. She makes herself laugh on Facebook and Instagram.
