When my Z was born at 9 pounds and 3 ounces, I was overjoyed. Babies under 7 pounds scare me and I was so glad that I was not going to have to deal with the added fear of a tiny baby.
She has remained in the 90th percentile (or higher) for her entire life. She towers over her playmates, looks gigantic in class photos, there is nothing petite about her in relation to her peers. While she has friends that are just now beginning to fill out their size 3T clothes, my girl is rocking 5T pants.
So when Baby Center posted this link, I was curious. How tall will my child be? Unfortunately, I am horrified by the results, about what this could mean for my little girl in the future. According to the height predictor, my beautiful girl is going to be between 6' and 6'3". WHAT?
I am the shortest child in my family, but at 5'8" I am tall for a girl. I have prayed that God would make me like one of those cute short girls that are all compact without dangling arms and legs everywhere. Short shorts that looked so cute on my peers in high school, looked a lot like underwear on me. Shopping for jeans, pants and skirts is often a nightmare in my life.
I can't tell you how often I have wished on stars, prayed to God to give me any other body than the one that I was given. Yes, I am overweight, but when surrounded by girls that I tower over, I feel like a mammoth, gigantic, ungraceful, and just plain out HUGE.
If my child is really going to be so tall, she will have to go through the phase where the ever so short boys in 6th and 9th grades want to pick at, tease, and taunt the giant. She is going to long after boys that are so much shorter and be dismayed when they pursue the cute, tiny little girls that she longs to be.
I wish there was a way (that isn't child abuse) that I could stunt her growth. Let her be one of those girls, so that she will never have to know the pain of being a giant.
Since there is not a way to do that, I am going to keep feeding her with praise, watering her with confidence and letting her grow. We all have bumps and evil people along the way, hopefully I can make her strong enough that she will not fall prey to those taunts and teases.
And who knows, maybe she will just become a supermodel, basketball player, or volleyball player and all of those tiny girls will wish that they could be her.
She's going to be wonderful however she turns out! And believe me, even the short girls have issues. I'm 5'4" and the tallest female in my family. And none of us were ever that "cute, tiny little girl."
ReplyDeleteI am short and curvy and I always wanted to be tall and thin. I have worked 31 years to accept this body. Just teach her young I tell ya. Mys husbands brother has a 16 year old girlfriend who is over weight but probably one of the most confident girls I know. I think alot is the parents and lets just say my Father was not a fan of short and curvy! She is beautiful and always will be, heck she will never need a step ladder :)
ReplyDeleteThis is funny because I always wished I could be taller and a little curvier! I guess we always think the grass is greener! And my daughter was so tiny when she was born--less than 6lbs and yes, it was a little scary holding her sometimes!
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