Thursday, August 7, 2008

One to Grow On

I read somewhere awhile back that you can get a good idea how tall your kids will be through this method: Average the height of the parents and then add 4" for a boy or subtract 4" for a girl. That would put my boys at about 5'10" once fully grown.

Let me just say that 5'10" is not good enough for my boys. They want to be the biggest and strongest in the room and look forward to the day when they are taller than John. They stretch their bodies, stand on things, make us squat down - anything to make themselves appear taller than they actually are.

They stand on the scale often to see if they are gaining weight. Luke especially enjoys this, and will climb on the scale and ask me, "How old am I?" When I remind him that a scale tells weight, not age, he says, "Oh yeah. How big am I?" The number I tell him means nothing to him. He just wants to hear that it is higher than the last time and will often advance the zero point on the scale by 20 pounds to appear even bigger.

The only time Luke wishes he could stay small is when he's hiding. Growing, he says, will ruin the game of hide-and-seek because he won't be able to fit into the tiniest places. I don't tell him that one day he won't want to play hide-and-seek so being bigger won't make a difference. He wouldn't believe that there would ever be a time when he didn't feel like playing that game. But I know that time will come. I also know he'll find the magic in the game again once he has kids of his own.

If my boys could, they would rush the growing process as quickly as possible. Thankfully, God has wisdom enough to not let this occur. And even though I look forward to each and every upcoming milestone, their eagerness to grow reminds me to encourage them to slow down and not rush things. It is important for all of us to live in the moment and not under appreciate what is happening in our lives right at this very moment.

At their recent pediatrician visit, the doctor said that at their current growth rate Jack will be taller than John and Luke will be the same height as John. They were ecstatic at this news. But, my boys will realize soon enough that growing bodies mean growing responsibilities. But for now, I'll try to help them savor childhood while they can still hide in the smallest of spaces.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Drew has 2 shorter than average parents and he is obsessed on what limitations there may be when he is an adult. I mean who is going to draft him as an NFL Quarterback if he's only 5'6"??

Beth Cotell said...

Awwwww. What a sweet post!

Unknown said...

Tiffany just did the scale thing tonight!! She asked how old she was when she got on. So funny :)

They grow up fast enough with out any help. Maybe I should quit the veggies at dinner :)

Anonymous said...

okay, just did the math for my boys... looks like I'm gonna have some 6 footers. Luckily for them, they we're girls... they would've been pretty short. ha.

Love your blog!

Kellan said...

My Little Billy is - little and we are so worried he will not grow tall - like his dad and grandfather. I loved the part about the scale - HA!

Have a good weekend - Kellan

Angie @ KEEP BELIEVING said...

My boys are both obsessed with being bigger and taller, too. Gavin is getting so big I can barely lift him anymore. He is over 60 pounds. He is over 4 feet tall. He is breaking my heart.

KEEP BELIEVING

louann said...

That's so interesting to know! =)

But I do agree, with physical growth comes the increase of age in years and is coupled with more responsibilities.

Monica said...

I just tried the calculator thing and it came up with my son being 5'9". I wonder if I did it right, his doc said that he was going to be easily 6'2".

He will just die if he is not as tall as his dad who is 6'1".

Cute story about the scale, I missed out on those kind of stories, we NEVER owned a scale.

Damama T said...

What a wonderful post. You made me cry. Thank you.