Just 3 Days

Just 3 days. That’s all it would have taken for things to be looking quite different around here now.

My Little Man was born on the 3rd September. He will be four years old in a couple of weeks time and is so looking forward to his birthday, his Avengers birthday cake and a trip to the seaside. I can’t believe he’ll be four and as I look back over the year, it’s been wonderful to see him grow so much.

This time last year I remember having play dates where as soon as friends arrived, my son would run to me in tears, ask to be picked up and cling to me. I look at him now and he amazes me by how far he has come in just one year. He’s now racing his sister to the door to welcome any and all visitors, even if it’s just the food shopping!

You may recall that he struggled to settle into nursery. He was clearly not ready to go a year ago and so I deferred his start to this January. He was ready, but I doubted my decision when he kicked and screamed all through that first month at drop-offs. Yet now, there are no tears. He’d still rather be at home every day and moans about going, but he’s calmer there. He has made friends there and his confidence grows with every passing week.

He is growing up, he is becoming more comfortable in unfamiliar situations, he is enjoying the company of his peers more. He’s recently asked to go to football classes, another new experience for him, and whilst he remains the only child there whose dad has to get involved in the class, he is doing it. He surprised me on a recent outing when he rushed off to get involved with a group of children in an activity, barely a backward glance and leaving his sister behind.

My son has always been a daredevil, in that way his confidence knows no bounds. Take him to soft play or a playground and he’s gone within seconds, so he’s not all that shy. It’s around new people, groups of strangers, that he is unsure. But he’s getting better, so much better.

Yet I cannot help but breathe a sigh of relief that he was born on the 3rd September. If he’d made his way into the world just 3 days earlier he’d be starting school in two weeks time. I know for some, they would be ready. My daughter’s birthday is early October and she would probably have been fine starting school a full year earlier than she did. But my Little Man is not ready, not as ready as I’d want him to be.

Over the coming months I’d like him to get a few of the basics mastered, numbers and phonics and so on. Not because I want to push him, but because I want him to not have to worry too much about the work in that first term, but to concentrate on adjusting to school life. To being away from home every day, away from me. To being surrounded by new people and the tiredness that I suspect these new adventures will bring.

When he does start school in September 2017, he will already be 5 years old, most probably the oldest in the class. Of course, he’ll still be my baby and I’ll still not want him to go, but he will be ready then. When I look at how far he’s come in just one year, I just know that he’s going to fly this coming year.

My Little Man. He makes me so proud.

Little Man football

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8 thoughts on “Just 3 Days”

  1. Ahh I’m so glad both mine were born after the August cut off. It makes me feel like I get to keep them a bit longer. Ironically I was born in August and was always the youngest in my class. I didn’t know any different and it didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things really, but it does make me feel a bit better with my “late leavers”.

  2. It is such an odd one- really cementing the thought that we really are individuals and need to be appreciated as such. I’m an August baby (It’s my birthday tomorrow 🙂 ), and I just remember the pros and cons of being an August baby, and I think all things told I did ok. My best friend’s birthday (was/ is) September 7th, and I think as children you do just knock along, as long as you are in an environment which fits you. Oddly, as soon as you become an ‘adult’ age stops being ‘a thing’, I’ve no idea the age of the majority I work with. So it does seem a really disproportionate amount of effort goes into putting in place the rules of our education system. I’m glad life worked out for your little man (with nature’s helping hand!).

    1. You’re so right, age is barely noticed as adults, isn’t it? But at this age, 12 months is a big gap! It definitely evens out over time, my nephew’s an August baby, too, and I’m June, so quite late. Everyone’s different, too, but this definitely works for my son. And for me, it gives me a precious extra year with my boy 🙂

  3. Ahh! My youngest was born on the 29th of August. She is the youngest in her year and the kids in her class at school are turning ten only a few days after she turns nine….She wasn’t ready to start school….She still struggles but not as much as she did. I kick myself now because she was born by elective c-section. I had the chance to change the date. Grr! I really wish I knew then what I know now.
    Your boy is such a cutie x

    1. Oh no, must be frustrating knowing you could have changed it! My boy was elective section, too, so I was happy with September! Ah, thank you x

  4. He is so handsome! I wish my little one was going to be one of the oldest in the class but she will be among the youngest – just 3 when she starts school 🙁

    1. Ah, thank you! Oh, that is young, I didn’t realise they started so small over there. To be honest, she’ll probably be fine, it’s us parents that worry more!

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