You Can't Turn Back the Clock

Darcy turned ten a little more than a month ago and seeing as she simply refuses to stop growing up, Randy has commenced to wringing his hands over her status as the youngest person in the 5th grade. Well, no, wringing his hands doesn't sound quite right--Randy isn't a hand-wringer by any stretch--but it does bug him. It bugs him so much, in fact, that he keeps mock-threatening to make Darcy repeat the 5th grade next year in order to settle her in with peers her age (at least I think he's kidding!). See, it seems all he can think about these days is the fact that she's newly ten in a class of 11- and in some cases almost 12-year-olds, so if you fast forward a couple of years she's going to be newly 14 in a class of 15- and almost 16-year-olds. And let me be specific: These are almost 16-year-old boys that we're talking about. It's killing him, I'm telling you, killing him!

Years ago when Tyler turned five on a hot day in July, it was not too difficult to make the decision to give him one more year of freedom before setting him on the path to academic enlightenment. Studies showed and lots of others' person tales convinced us that Tyler would be better served by having another year of life and unstructured experience under his belt before hitting the books.

Ah, but that's because he's a boy. The same doesn't hold true for girls, does it? Girls are naturally more mature than boys, right? Well, I'm not sure I have a hard-and-fast opinion on this issue in general, but from personal experience I have never had a moment's doubt that Darcy was born ready for school.

(It's a little-known fact that when she was born, she was clutching a tiny pencil in one hand and a miniature dictionary in the other.)

(Okay, not really. But it wouldn't have surprised me one bit.)

Here are some snippets that Darcy's teachers shared with him during Parent/Teacher Conferences last week:

--"She is not just mature academically; she is mature spiritually and emotionally as well."
--"She is so studious."
--"She is so SMART!"
--"What? She just turned 10??? I thought she was 11! I consider her one of the most advanced students in this program!" (That would be the gifted program.)
--"Darcy has such a quiet, gentle spirit."
--"She is so kind to everyone in the class."
--"It's hard to choose which honorable characteristics to award her every day because she exhibits them all."
--"She is so polite."

Okay, so those last four have nothing to do with her intellect, but I couldn't resist bragging a bit. I can't help it--I am so proud of Darcy because I know how hard she works and the expectations she places on herself. She does not slough off, she does not procrastinate, she does not complain about homework. School is pure joy to her. Frankly, I expected these rave reviews, and I hope that doesn't sound prideful. I just know Darcy, and I would expect nothing less. For the first nine weeks of school, out of 14 subjects her lowest grade was a 97 and she got seven perfect 100s. Does this sound like a girl in the wrong grade level?

Grades are one thing, but it was the repeated affirmation by Darcy's homeroom and gifted program teachers that she is "mature for her age" and "wise beyond her years" that leaves no room for doubt in my mind that Darcy is right where she needs to be. Next stop: Middle School!