It's just not fair.

My daughter was born on September 9. She was over 9 lbs, and two weeks early. I knew she was big. The doctor knew she was big. But despite my pleas, he would not induce me on September 1. The 9th was as soon as we'd get.

Why did I want September 1? Because she'd have a sapphire for a birthstone - AND she'd make the cut for getting into kindergarten on the day she turned 5.

Instead, she'll be entering kindergarten 8 days short of her 6th birthday.

OH, but that's a good thing, people tell me. She'll be home longer before leaving for college. She'll be driving before her friends. She'll be tall and can play basketball, giving her team the advantage. She'll be the smartest in her class.

Or the bored-est. In her second year of pre-school now, she's testing at a first grade level. With the exception of not being a great reader yet (something her brother had mastered by Christmas of his 5th year because he had a summer birthday and made the cut), she's ready to just skip on past her peers.

She's ginormous. At 5, she's taller & heavier than her brother was in second grade (granted he had some health setbacks). She's a size 8-10 - she's 5!! When we go to pick her brother up, the kindergartners come out to get on the bus, and she's bigger than all of them. Every.single.one.

It's just not fair. She'll be made fun of for being an amazon woman because she's so tall. They've already slated her for gifted to pull her from her peers for certain subjects next year. And kindergarten in our town is only 1/2 days - which she thinks is just ridiculous.

I'm not in a hurry for her to grow up. I just know her potential, and I think kindergarten placement should be a maturity test, not a birth date.

There you have it.