We had our first big pediatrician visit in Louisiana earlier this week. A lot of the usual check up stuff with the dreaded shots, weight, height, etc. I was excited to get Elsa's height and weight because this will be her last appointment before she turns the big 2-0, just kidding, she will only be two.
When Nyah turned two, I read up that this was the best age to determine what height the child will be as an adult. There are several formulas out there but I guess by doubling the child's height at the age of two is a good indicator of what their adult height will be. Another is based on parents heights, and the child's height and weight at a given age. An awesome and fun little parenting tool, I thought, like guessing the sex of a child during pregnancy by peeing on Draino (have you heard of that one), or doing the Chinese gender chart.
Well, the height predictor put Nyah at a statuesque 5'9". And as I ignorantly put Elsa's information in yesterday, excited for the results of my child's future, it predicted her at the age of eighteen to be...5'3". And though I think these are both beyond the perfect heights for our girls, I couldn't help but feel sort of jipped, robbed of the sheer delight it must bring to watch your child physically grow and grow into the beautiful adult they are meant to be, without knowing when they are finished.
I immediately wanted to give the information back, permanently erase it from my memory because what business of mine is it to predict these girls futures? I mean what if this info lingers in the back of my mind and then the next thing you know I'm steering Nyah away from becoming a jokey and Elsa from being a runway model or volleyball star because I don't want them to get let down or fail? I don't want to let the knowledge of their predicted heights allow me to put them in a box in life because that is a total rip off and completely unfair to my children because the journey and dealing with and overcoming let downs and failures is what building character is all about.
So thanks to modern medicine and simple math equations we are now being way too invasive in our childrens' lives. I mean we look at them in the womb, their protected little world without second thought. And though the medical benefits way outweigh the weirdness of it all, hello, we are not supposed to see in there.
So does height matter in either direction? I think absolutely not, especially in matters that deal with the brain because knowledge is power and that is what I hope they depend on most in life. And as George so kindly reminded me, there are those that defy the odds in life each and every day.
So wether I will be stretching up to kiss their beautiful cheeks or bending down a bit my heart will remain confident that these two girls will be capable of anything they set their minds on because on the inside, they are both giants.
When Nyah turned two, I read up that this was the best age to determine what height the child will be as an adult. There are several formulas out there but I guess by doubling the child's height at the age of two is a good indicator of what their adult height will be. Another is based on parents heights, and the child's height and weight at a given age. An awesome and fun little parenting tool, I thought, like guessing the sex of a child during pregnancy by peeing on Draino (have you heard of that one), or doing the Chinese gender chart.
Well, the height predictor put Nyah at a statuesque 5'9". And as I ignorantly put Elsa's information in yesterday, excited for the results of my child's future, it predicted her at the age of eighteen to be...5'3". And though I think these are both beyond the perfect heights for our girls, I couldn't help but feel sort of jipped, robbed of the sheer delight it must bring to watch your child physically grow and grow into the beautiful adult they are meant to be, without knowing when they are finished.
So thanks to modern medicine and simple math equations we are now being way too invasive in our childrens' lives. I mean we look at them in the womb, their protected little world without second thought. And though the medical benefits way outweigh the weirdness of it all, hello, we are not supposed to see in there.
So does height matter in either direction? I think absolutely not, especially in matters that deal with the brain because knowledge is power and that is what I hope they depend on most in life. And as George so kindly reminded me, there are those that defy the odds in life each and every day.
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