First off, thanks for everyone that acted as a sounding board and gave advice & opinion over the summer. Really, thanks.

So today was DS5.5's first day of school (advocated and received early admissions into 1st grade after a pretty long debate during the summer). I have to say that DW and I had a fair amount of angst about this because (a) there have been plenty of times where DS well... decided to act... his age... if that, (b) the SD's support was underwhelming, and (c) we just weren't sure if this was the right move even if DS was ready for it academically. Given all of the pros and cons we decided that for him this was probably the best move.

Well today he went to his first full day of school and he seemed to do a pretty good job with coping with everything. We know DS pretty well. He goes into this "data collection" mode when presented with something new where he isn't sure about what is going on. Very quiet but very observant. This is the same thing he did last week when he went to orientation. (The principal didn't give us the warmest reception and said something to the effect of "oookay, we'll see how this turns out.")

But today went really, really well. DW and I (of course) were much more anxious than the boy who pretty much booked to the bus when it arrived. Made it through the day and came home in pretty good spirits. Told us all sorts of things about the day... with a fair helping of "I forgot" or "I don't remember". Some things never change. Something did happen that I didn't think would happen so soon though. As told by DS:

[other boy] "How OLD are you?"
[DS] "5 1/2"
[other boy] "You're not old enough to be in first grade!"
[DS] "Weeeeellll... some people are old enough when they're 5, some people are old enough when they're 6, and some people are old enough when they are 7. It just depends."

Now granted that he was repeating what we've told him... but needless to say I was pretty darn proud.

JB

Yay! I'm proud of your DS too - good answer! I hope things continue to go well. I always read your posts with interest because I have a sneaky suspicion that we might be in the same position next year with our DS4.5.

It sounds like a good day! And you should be proud of your DS for a good answer to the age question

YEAH congrats on the first day!

That's a very good answer!

Wonderful start! I hope the novelty of him being 5 will disappear pretty soon and both his teacher and the administration mostly forget about it.

Congrats on a successful first day of school. Hopefully after a weeks the kids don't even realize his age.

Yahoo! A good first day is a good, good sign. May you have many more good days to follow!

congrats on a great first day! MrWiggly has dealt with that age question, too. We've given him the same response, imagine that
It does die down with time, but seems to crop up in new settings. He just takes it in stride now. Your DS will learn to do the same, I'm sure. Hope the first day is a sign of a great year to come!

Good news!! Good luck.

Well, he we happy/excited to go off again this morning, so we're off to a good start!

JB

Weeeeelllldone.

Two thoughts. I think for us - questions of age are fairly basic and quickly pass. When the question is generated by the child. It is the question or statement another child makes that they picked up from a parent when you bit your lip hope your kid answers so you don't .. then let it go. He did great. I also thin better just to get it over with. If it makes you feel better - this year in second but a new school - it hasn't been a mentionable so... hoping when the birthday rolls around it still is a nothing.

Second. I'm not sure what kind of program your son was in last year. but we went from a 2.5 hour/4 day a week pre-school to a 8-3:30 1st grade school day. For the first 4-6 weeks, we saw a lot of crabby and age appropriate behavior after school. but we were always excited to go back. so if things get sticky after school... first go with it being an adjustment not a reflection of the perfect fit you are making.

Kudos! Kids always seem to have less of an issue than we do ;-) I look back at all the stress and now it seems like the decision should have been a no-brainer.