Originally Posted by HowlerKarma
Quote
I find it really annoying that other parents want to give their kid an "advantage" by making sure my kid is younger and smaller.

I feel this way, as well. It's inherently rather selfish, and it's the first step on the slippery path toward...

College Admissions Mania!

Argh. Many of my dd's friends (8th grade) are taking zero hour Latin at the high school. For most it seems to be about that particular mania. Not to mention one of them is already taking SAT classes. So not ready to even go down this path.
Re: red-shirting, it is incredibly common around here (South), esp. for boys, esp. b/c of sports and seemingly every pre-k teacher's bias. I suspect that many of dd's friends will be driving long before her (she doesn't care).