Speaking of lunch boxes

I was telling Ashley that she would need to pick out a new lunch box as her one from last year needs replaced. And, she told me, "Ok, but Mom, no notes in my lunch box this year. I'm going to be a third grader, but you can leave them in my mailbox" (She has a mailbox in her room that we use to write notes back and forth). Waaaaa! My baby is growing up. At least she still doesn't mind being seen with her mom like some of her friends, but the time is coming too soon.

Have you noticed a subtle shift in Ashley, Dee Dee? Corey's still sweet and loving, but I'm detecting just a hint of a, "Oh Mom, you're so clueless," vibe from her this summer. Makes me so sad--she's just 7. Maybe she's watching too many tween shows, or maybe it's just inevitable.

Oy you guys! K isn't like that at all yet. I think my heart will break just a little bit when she starts it. She really isn't interested in the tween shows yet. She knows who Hanna Montana is but couldn't sing any of her songs...and Beiber? No clue. LOL

awww I remember when mya started that. kinda hurt. I still do it though. but i make them funny and not sappy. like " eat your yogurt..im watching you!" or i throw in a silly joke she can share with her friends. stuff like that. I'm hoping i can keep that up until middle school.

She hasn't quite hit the "mom you are clueless" stage yet, but I am sure it is coming. I have noticed a shift in that her friends' opinions seem to be having more influence on her. Just like the note thing, she loves getting notes from me at home, but doesn't want me to do it in front of her friends at school. We still cuddle, read and talk every night, and she still confides in me about all the friend drama. She still gives me hugs and kisses when I drop her off at school, but I think she's starting to shy away from that too.

For Ashely, I think it is more the fact that most kids in her class are a year older. A year may not seem like a lot, but I think there is a big difference in the maturity of someone that is 7- almost 8, and someone that is 9. Sometimes I feel like she is forced to grow up faster because of having a September birthday... she's always the youngest in the class, every activity, and every sport. She doesn't watch a lot of TV, so I think it's just being exposed to older kids or kids with older siblings. I can always tell the kids that have teenage siblings as they pick up on their attitudes. It doesn't make them bad, but I think it makes them appear to grow up faster when in reality they still need Mom as much as the next seven year old.

So true for us, but on the opposite end of the spectrum. Kylie is almost a year older than almost all the kids in her classes. Same with sports. It's made it a huge challenge for her because even academically she's farther ahead than most, even though they say kids even out in kindy , and her teachers have to find ways to challenge her even more, causing us to do more at home for school than most kids do. Luckily the good part of all of this is the kids are younger so she's not forced to grow up as quickly, although in any situation you do see the kids who have older brother/sisters and those kids cause the other kids to grow up faster. Not their fault, but you do see it happen.

I saw it more in Megan's class. It's strange, but it seemed like a lot of the Pre-k'ers this past year, 3/4 the class (no kidding) had MUCH older siblings and you could tell. It's amazing the stuff these kids knew and could tell you. I was floored and when I'd ask them where they learned it they'd say their older brother/sister. Thank goodness my kids are close in age so I don't have to deal with this at home, but OMG. It's like my boss' DD who is Megan's age. Her brothers are in middle school, so MUCH older. So the girl is hanging out with much older girls and boys and she acts older than Kylie is and she's Megan's age. I hope it doesn't cause Megan to feel like she's gotta grow older, but I know it will be more of a problem for her than for Kylie because the kids in Megan's classes just for some odd reason have a lot older brothers/sisters. Must have been a huge number of parents who decided a lot later to have another child, I dunno, but you do see how this has an affect on other kids in the classrooms, IMO. I'm not saying it's a bad thing to have kids so far apart in age, but it affects the younger child and then also affect the other kids in school more than people really think.

This post has been edited by coasterqueen on Aug 11 2010, 08:20 AM