Funny you should write this today.
My dd (who will turn 4 in July, and who can pass for 5 based on looks) went to story time at the library today, and I was a little shocked at how different she was than the 3 and 4 year olds around. After story time was over, she runs up to me and says "Mom, I made a new friend." I see her talking to a kid, approach the woman who I figured was probably the kid's mom and struck up a conversation. Turns out the kid was 8 years old. I told the mom it was nice of her daughter to "adopt" mine, but I could tell from the way they were interacting, it was as peers, not as big kid being nice to a little kid. Again, shocking, but when I think about it, dd's comprehension is around 2nd-going-on-3rd grade, so maybe not that strange.
My dd is fortunate that there are a 5 yo (who seems "young" to me) and a 6 yo (who dd gets frustrated at whenever she can do something -- always motorphysical, of course -- that dd can't do) in our neighborhood who are dd's sometime-friends, but they don't interact on a regular basis. So, like you, I am dd's main companion.
Every once in a while I am reminded of what an outlier dd is (she seems like such a normal kid when I have no basis for comparison) and today was one of those days. It does leave me wandering what is in store for her.
My plan for now is to concentrate on sports, where she is pretty average, and, when she's older, on things like theater, where she can be in a mixed-age setting. And maybe sneak her into the older storytimes? But yeah, any other ideas would be appreciated.
