Wednesday, May 30, 2012

"....My Parents Were Married!"

I am a woman of average height (alright already I'm 5'4" when I stretch but in Asia that makes me tall!) I am the mother of a daughter who is very tall for her age. Check out the photo of her playing twister below. She will be seven in August. It's fairly hard for me to cuddle her these days. Growth charts predict she will be at least 6 feet tall.

Having heard from some of my taller friends that life can be awkward as a tall woman, I've begun encouraging her in any of her girly pursuits, I often tell her how regal and elegant she is. Tonight she told me, "Mom, I'm not regal my parents were married - you should know!" ::snort:: But I'm planting seeds.


Barb, herself a tallish woman, hadn't seen Stacia in about 4 months (like the new feather she's sporting  - she waited nearly a year for it). She commented on how much Stacia has grown. She was about to tell Stacia how tall she's gotten when Stacia said, "I KNOW - I'm BIG."  As Barb and I talked she verified I was on the right track. When a young girl hears, "You're big for your age!" She doesn't hear, "I'm tall, I'm elegant, I'm regal."  She hears, "I'm BIG, I'm FAT, I'm a CLUTZ." 

Might we more carefully consider the words we speak in a child's presence? 

I HAVE and WILL teach her about inner beauty, being comfortable with herself et al....but I do think I will be much more careful in the future about the words I use to describe young kids in their hearing...they pick up on them young. LOL  


Choosing Joy!
©2012 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...


3 comments:

Deja said...

Thanks for the admonishment. My mom calls Elisha "The Giant Child" because, he too, is tallish for his age. It's become somewhat of a joke when we can't fit a tshirt over his head. But now I wonder if it is a joke or will be painful down the road. Think on this, I will...(read that in your best Yoda voice)

Debbie said...

We have the opposite problem here. Our Rachel is only about 4'10" and has slowed and most likely will grow very little more. She has watched as first Gabe and then Hannah catches up and passes her.

Our course, Dan also is very small and has just hit the 50 lb. mark and is 9, but we are sure he will sprout up one of these days.

It is often hard to come up with the right words to encourage when a child feels so different than than the rest. Working on focusing on their talents and gifts instead of their physical attributes.

Anonymous said...

Sis: Please do give our "regal", "beautiful" and cute G-daughter some hugs and kisses from us. Actually, these days it seems tall gals don't have as much trouble as they use to. SO GLAD you are taking the direction you are though. Know how you can all feel. I was definitely the skinnest kid alive in Hardin from 1st grade thru 12th. Sure wish I could get some of that skinny back these days.

Love you all and praying for you all. Mom t.