I received the devastating news at my daughter’s well-child visit when she was two years old.
“Your daughter is in the 75th percentile for height,” the pediatrician reported.
The belly on my 5’11” frame knotted. I uncrossed my long legs and leaned forward in my chair.
“Wha-a-a-t?” I stammered. “Does 75th percentile today mean the same as 95th percentile decades ago?”
“What on earth are you talking about?” the pediatrician said with a look. “Pardon?” was what actually came out of her mouth, though.
I adjusted my Size 10 Long jeans with a 34″ inseam, the ones that Eddie Bauer had charged me an extra $10 for because they were “tall”.
“Because of our nutrition and stuff,” I rationalized, “is 75th percentile today the same as 95th percentile when I was a kid?”
“No. She’s in the 75th percentile. She should grow to be about 5’7″ tall.”
I fell off my chair. At my height, it was long way to go.
Now, I realize that my height, 5’11”, is not freakishly tall. However, growing up as the tallest kid in school until 7th grade and the tallest girl until forever made 5’11” feel freakishly tall.
I lay on the floor in a tangled web of lengthy limbs. My daughter was going to be 5’7″? That’s normal. A bit above normal, but not freakishly tall like me.
How could I be her mother? I had mentally prepared for a freakishly tall daughter. I could relate to a freakishly tall daughter.
All the terrible moments of being freakishly tall flashed through my mind. The moments I thought my freakishly tall daughter and I could commiserate over:
- Standing in the middle of the last row of risers every class picture kindergarten through 7th grade.
- Having strangers ask if I played basketball in college. No? What about volleyball?
- Being invited to slow dance in middle school by boys because they knew their heads would rest on my chest.
- Sitting with my chin on my kneecaps on airplanes.
- Never buying pants off the rack because they were too short and high waters were cool for only six months sometime in the 80s.
Yes, these defining moments of being freakishly tall were moments I thought I could share with my freakishly tall daughter, times we could bond over as we shopped for pants with a long inseam and retrieved things off high shelves at grocery stores for short people.
Dazed, I barely heard what the pediatrician said next.
“Her head circumference is in the 95th percentile,” she stated.
Oh?
“She’s got a big head like her mama!” I cried.
I got this.
This post originally appeared on In the Powder Room.
Don’t you love it when you see hats marked “One size fits most” and you know you are not part of the “most” population? I feel your pain on that one.
Mo recently posted…How Do You Hygge?
I still remember I had to get a men’s bike helmet a few years ago because the women’s One Size Fits Most didn’t fit. {swallows pride}
Katy recently posted…The Long and Short of It
At five feet tall I am the opposite- but I get ya,
#happynow
I always felt like those of us at the opposite ends of the spectrum share a bond. We can relate to being the outliers.
Katy recently posted…The Long and Short of It
Thanks for linking up to #globalblogging
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I love this! iremember when you posted this, we share the same dilemma. my first born is going to be a shorty. The other three will be Amazons. Long and short indeed!
Jen recently posted…The Happy Now Blog Link- Up #58
Thanks, Jen! Genetics are funny. I just never thought I’d get one shorter than me!
Lol! You got this no matter what I am sure! Inevitably you will pass on something else that will bond her to you… a love of bad puns and corny jokes? A sweet tooth that will forever haunt you… No? Oh… perhaps that’s just some of my baggage. Lol.
We share the same hair, so we’ll be able to commiserate–and style! Meanwhile, my son got all my picky eating habits from childhood. I was sort of hoping for a refund on that characteristic!
hahaha it’s always the little (or not-so-little) things, isn’t it! Thanks for linking to #GlobalBlogging xx
I pray hard every day that mt daughter will be taller than I am because I am freakishly short! So far, so good. She’s 13 and we’re wearing the same sized shoes! She’s just an inch or two shorter than I am now.
Our kids are following that 97 percentile curve for the head, too. It means they’re geniuses. The pediatrician just doesn’t want to make everybody else feel bad by saying that.
Jenny @ Unremarkable Files recently posted…Potty Training Tips and Tricks from a Mom of 6
My eleven year old has size 12 (in men’s) shoes. He has also been the tallest boy in his class since pre-k. I’m just hoping he stops before we get into the special ordering of clothes/shoes range. (my BIL is 6’8 so…)
I liked being tall as soon as at least a few boys were taller than me. Nowadays I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s shaped who I am. Plus, I get to help little old ladies at the store get things off the high shelves. 🙂
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