<p>Yup. My tiny 13 y.o. son would agree. The only reason he has to live is one boy in his class even shorter.</p>
<p>I’d love to say the best things come in small packages but I’m a solid foot taller than my mother-in-law, who’s tiny (you should see the vacation photos with my inlaws- guess who the giant is), and big people are good, too. Being tall did help my son in advancing grades, but a big 3-4 year old looks older and yet acts his age, making him look immature to the casual observer in public. It is hard for girls to be tall and boys to be short- anything outside the norm, whether it be intelligence, appearance or culture seems to be a disadvantage in our society.</p>
<p>wis, my small package is just right – he’s funny, sweet, intelligent & I’m crazy about him. As are many girls, btw, in part because he’s cute and sweet and funny - but not yet sexually threatening. And he’ll also be just right when inevitably he’ll grow enough to be at least a “normal” sized package. In the meantime, we quietly (and in jest) make fun of his taller friends as being pituitary cases.</p>
<p>katliamom, my son is 14 and also small. His best friend is 5’ 11" and they look like Mutt and Jeff when they’re together. 
His friends are of all different heights, and it seems to make no difference to any of them. I know my son wishes he were taller, but I keep telling him that the later you grow, often the taller you get!</p>
<p>“I keep telling him that the later you grow, often the taller you get!”</p>
<p>— ooh, good one. I’ll have to remember and use this line when the subject comes up again. :)</p>
<p>Booklady,
I have used that line about delayed start resulting in more growth for years. I certainly hope it’s not “urban legend.” While I still have one S who fervently hopes this is true, if he makes a careful, well-reasoned assessment of his parents stature, he will realize that he is destined to become the third very short S.</p>
<p>Late growers often shoot up taller than average. I’ve seen this a million times. Think about your own grammar school days. It is rarely the tall kid from those days who reaches six foot. My shrimp d is up to 5’7" and growing at age 15. I grew 6 inches over the summer before my sophomore yr in h.s. And my brothers, who were always at the front of the line for First Communion, Confirmation, graduation, are 6’3" & 6’5". In my experience, it’s an Irish thing. We grow late and thus have very long legs.</p>
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<p>It was told to me by our pediatrician, so I hope she’s right!</p>
<p>I have refrained from adding to this thread partly because there is really nothing I can add to it but it has been very interesting. Only it sounds like you all are getting off track here. So, do you hold back your short offspring in the hopes that they can get in an Ivy or not???</p>
<p>Seriously, it occurs to me that this OP sounds EXACTLY like something I might have written 30 yrs ago when I was in hs and my best gf and I began an exchange of notes and letters to each other that lasted an entire school year and eventually filled up 2 notebooks. This was of course before IM and chat boards. Except for the choppy, almost broken English part - my grammar and spelling were much better than the OPs (not that that criticism has any merit in this thread). In fact, I think maybe I DID write this - or a variation of it - way back then! Unfortunately, those notebooks are long gone… </p>
<p>(sorry, I was known for my oddly sarcastic sense of humor back then; fortunately, time has mellowed - and matured - me. Somewhat). </p>
<p>(oh wait–it was NOT hs, I think it was 6th or 7th grade. But spelling and grammar were still better. I always wanted to be a writer when I grew up. Kinda wish I still had those books…yes, they really did exist! Amazing what our creative little minds can come up with during our youth and when we are “board”…)</p>
<p>scansmom - one of the most academically (and financially) exclusive schools in Denver makes it a point to hold back a large percentage of its kindergardners, mostly boys. The idea is to give them another year to grow up… my sneaking suspicion is to get another year of tuition out of parents. And of course, the school brags about its graduates’ high rate of Ivy admission. Coincidence??? ;)</p>
<p>The very young boys are kept back- or asked to do a “primer” year before first grade-by many elite private schools so that their fine motor schools are more developed. This leads to learning to write more easily, besides the other benefits. This puts the boys and girls (who develop these skills more quickly) more on par.</p>
<p>katlia–I think you’re on to something. Actually mine has always been tall so it was probably good that he was born in Nov, and missed the Sept cutoff in our state. So in effect he was held back that way… Still, no Ivy for us. Personally, it was probably the books he read (Good Night Moon. Every night. For about a year. Love the book. But an entire year…) And we didn’t do any flashcards until he was about 4 or 5…</p>
<p>sorry, I meant, katliamom–you’re probably not katlia??</p>
<p>this holding back is tricky business – on one hand, S could have used holding back because emotionally he’s always been (and remains) young for his age… on the other hand he’s always been (and remains) academically ahead of his age group. It was a sticky wickett… we chose not to hold him back but not to accelerate either. Boys – why do they have to be so complicated ? ;)</p>
<p>Hee, hee, Katiamom, one of my boys said (at age 5), "I don’t like girls. They’re too tricky.</p>
<p>My boys are devastatingly simple and shallow. I held back one who just made the age cutoff because he had absolutely no interest in any kind of sit and and focus work. The following year, he was not one bit more interested, but then I felt I gave him time and we could kick his rear along with impunity without wondering if we had pushed him to early. I think there are a number of boys who could use being held back about 3 years if it’s going to make any difference, but we can’t do it for propriety reasons. The year was a frigging drop in the bucket for what it did, but I’m glad we did it. We did the best we could under our society’s rules, and in his case, it would have caused more problems, had we held him the next two years that he needed. Probably should have homeschooled him, in retrospect. </p>
<p>The biggest issue for my boys has not been the academics. It has been emotional, social and common sense type issues. That’s where they have been immature. Along with attention, motivation, interest issues. </p>
<p>I have</p>
<p>cptofthehouse, I have to agree with you that “sit and focus” does not work well with many young boys, including mine, unless they are doing something they’re interested in. Then they can focus forever.</p>
<p>My younger son, who has just turned 8, is a much easier child than my older son was. He never gets in trouble in school - until this year. He has a new, young teacher who has a “wall of shame” prominently displayed in the classroom, with an indicator of that day’s behaviour status for each child. So anyone can, by glancing at the color on display for each child, see how many sins each child has committed. Two offenses in a single day, and she sends a note home. We got one last week. The two offenses? “Being chatty” (Mr. Social, he is guilty of this most days) and “hopping on one foot on the way back from the water fountain.”</p>
<p>The two offenses? “Being chatty” (Mr. Social, he is guilty of this most days) and “hopping on one foot on the way back from the water fountain.”</p>
<p>Ah, a young teacher. Just wait a year or so. But she is to be commended for being so conscientious and apparently sufficiently on top of things as to have time to write notes home for trivial infractions.</p>
<p>NYMom: Are you planning to meet with the principal to see how this Wall of Shame black mark can be kept off his permanent record? Harvard doesn’t view hoppers kindly, even one’s with stellar SATs.</p>
<p>I haven’t read all 11 pages, so forgive me if I am missing something here. To the OP, both my children have late summer birthdays, and both were sent to school as very young 5 year olds. </p>
<p>Although many people have different experiences with not holding kids from K, both of mine have performed beautifully in school; the older one has completed a compacted math program as a junior in high school, and would have been even more bored had he been the oldest one in the class as opposed to the youngest. He is very tall and mature looking for his age though (started shaving every day in grade 8), which helps, even though he are driving a full year after all his friends.</p>
<p>It has never been a problem. Of course, we weren’t looking at Ivy admission when he was 7, or even now, so those concerns didn’t affect our decision making.</p>
<p>Good point, StickerShock! I’ll be sure to bring a lawyer to the meeting.</p>