Survey says...Delayed!

I have been filling out an online version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire every once in a while for about a year now. I do it to check what G is supposed to be doing from month to month. It's less stressful than some of the other tests and it is designed to be completed by parents. G really loves doing the items on the tests. It's a fun little bit of playtime for both of us.

I typically exclude the gross motor section because I know it would show a delay. I was feeling pretty confident this past time though, so I filled it out. I mean, he was discharged wasn't he? They said he was age-appropriate at about 18 months. So, I got to that section and started filling it out. At the first question/statement, I knew we were in trouble.

My child runs easily, stopping and starting smoothly, changing direction and rarely falling. Yes, Sometimes, No.

Ummmm...my child doesn't run at all? He also does not go up or down stairs on his feet while holding the railing. He does not climb onto the couch. There are toddlers his age who do this stuff? I was not surprised when I got the survey back and it said that perhaps I should call early intervention.

I find myself racking my brain trying to remember what M could do and when. She was certainly no star, but I think she was running by now. A slow run, to be sure, but a run all the same. But he climbing on the couch thing was very late for her too. Our ped expressed some astonishment that she could speak in multi-word sentences but could not get on the couch.

It's amazing to me that I am going to write this, but I am not worried. To paraphrase one of my friends, "He walks, he talks, he's fine." We'll see how I feel at the end of the summer, but for now I am not calling early intervention.

What if Mama isn't ready?

M has two choices for preschool next year. She can go 4 times a week for two and a half hours, or she can go 5 days a week from 9 am until 2 pm. I wish there were some sort of middle ground. One option seems like it's not quite enough and the other seems to be only minutes shorter than a kindergarten day.

I don't know what to do here--she seems to be excited about the idea of going to school every day and REALLY excited about having lunch with her friends. But I confess that I feel unready for her to be in school all day. She will be in school all day, five days a week for years. Why start earlier than necessary? Why miss out on those impromptu trips to the zoo? I tell myself all of this and stand firm on my decision on the four-day-a-week program.

Then that little competitive voice starts whispering to me about kindergarten readiness, about all the other mothers who sent their four year olds to a longer program. I don't like that voice, but it's there all the same. It's the same one that makes me want to call the other mothers in M's class and see who is writing his or her name, who can identify the sounds that letters make. I confess that I have seriously considered finding a more academic school for her.

I just don't know what to do in this case. I have two weeks to decide and it will be difficult to change after that. It just feels so final.