Six

My son turned six this week.

He's quite curious about the world around him, and in the past few months I've noticed the questions he asks have become more sophisticated (if you can imagine that of a six year old). His sense of humor has become more distinctly his own. He's very bright and imaginative ― perhaps even a bit ahead of his peers, intellectually. And he has surprising moments of self-awareness.

But he's still working his way through emotions, frustrations and anxieties that other children his age are already past. It's difficult for me to know where he fits ― I have only limited experience with children his age (I came to know and dearly love a boy who was just a year older, with a diagnosis similar to my son, but he had difficulties all his own), and children all develop so differently, so I'm not often sure what's reasonable behavior to expect from a child his age. I have to go by my instinct.

There's the concern that this mix of maturity and immaturity ― a bit like his Dad, really! ― will make things increasingly difficult for him at school. But he's been doing well in a special, smaller class, and he's slowly being introduced to traditional classes, with his peers. And he's been attending school this summer, to avoid any regression. (Perhaps he'll have a chance to enjoy the unstructured days away from school I remember so fondly when he's older.) I was uncertain at first, but I've come to have a great deal of confidence in the school.

Last weekend, I put away the bed he has outgrown. This weekend, we replaced the bike he has outgrown.