Harold plot-hole and headcanon (did I use that right?)

So there is a Harold plot-hole that ya'll probably already know about, but was only brought to my attention last week. Just in case someone on here may not know about it, the gist is that we know Harold turns 13 because he has a Bar Mitzva; however, in "Helga on the Couch" we see him in preschool with her. I don't think it can be easily written off as just the faulty memory of a child (like we can about Arnold's memory of getting his hat) because Harold's teasing seems to have had a big impact on Helga in those moments and Helga was old enough at that point to likely remember something like that.
Before this plot-hole even came to my attention I had already started formulating this idea about Harold.
What if he was a preemie and had poor health as a small child so his parents did not want to put him in daycare or preschool for a couple of extra years?
(Disclaimer: in NO WAY am I saying any of these things are stereotypical of people born premature. It's just how Harold's own life experience[s] could have affected him personally. My nephew was born a little early and he is one tough cookie)
He would tell people he was "held-back" for the convenience of not having to explain everything. Maybe he would even be afraid of being teased for being a sickly child.
It could explain how he is smaller than the other older characters that are more his age like Wolfgang and Torvald.
And it would also give a reason why he is still cries for his mommy when he gets hurt and his mother's over-protectiveness.
IDK what do ya'll think?

That's a potentially good reason to explain that particular plothole. Personally, I thought they'd just forgotten about it. I like your explanation better.

You know, I've thought about that a lot as well. For the longest time, I had been thinking the same thing as Perhapsormaybe LOL So I like your reason better too!

I'm liking that headcanon! And I think it makes sense for Harold to have health problems. I think he mentioned in one episode that he has a gland problem that causes his weight issues.

Ooh Really!? I'll have to look that one up.

Yeah! I specifically recall him saying that in "24 Hours to Live" as well as the pilot episode!

I know I'm late to this conversation and that I'm necroposting (which I think is not allowed on here) but to be honest I really think this is a pretty interesting headcanon, I would have thought that Harold was 5 years old at this time (aka his final year in preschool) during Helga's flashback and the others were like 1 or 2 years old, but to be honest I think this headcanon has changed my opinion.

I've always sort of gone with:

A) They never say his age during the bar mitzvah episode and I think he's probably not actually 13, but the writers like... hand wiggled at the fine print RE: age
B) He is still OLDER than the other kids, probably by at least a year, MAYBE two.
C) He's been held back since he was young and has been with the same class since preschool

I think the preemie idea works well. I also wouldn't 100% dismiss the idea that he also was kept back a little longer just because developmentally he just wasn't where he should have been. And maybe his birthday is like in August/September where you either end up being the oldest or youngest kid in your grade, depending on if your parents hold you.

Basically, I put his age at 11 going on 12. His bar mitzvah was for his 11 birthday and the writers fudged it.

Yeah, I think in reality the writers generally imagined Harold to be around the same age as the other kids but then somebody had the idea for a bar mitzah episode and they really liked it so they just did it anyway. Which is fine. Plot holes happen. But I really love when fans take some ownership over a story and fix plot holes with our head canons. It's awesome.

I definitely agree with you theArnoldWaltz. The reality is it was just a fun children's show and Bartlett himself once said something along the lines of 'yeah, we didn't think through each and every individual detail, we were just writing fun episodes.'
I DO really enjoy all the potential story lines that plot holes can create.
^_^