And this highlights why girls and boys have to be evaluated according to different standards, because being 18 months younger generally means the bolded things don't happen to boys.
And when it does, boyo, does it cause parents to worry! (parents of girls also are generally not too pleased once the gap grows even bigger, 3 years isn't that uncommon.) But again, you have to ask yourself
1) was this kid going to be the local M.O.K. (as my dad would say) if he stayed with agepeers?
2) how important is this to your family? We came to the conclusion that academics and social were equally important to our family - which generally meant we 'took turns' with a great social year followed by a great academic year until we finally found a place that was great all around.
It seems to me that with the current local dating customs around here, there is a flurry of 'dating' in later middle school, and then not so much through out the rest of high school for most kids.
((shrugs))
Grinity
