When Jellybean was born, I became pretty adept at guessing ages of other babies, based on their size and what they were capable of. Then, as she became a toddler, I could look at other toddlers and gauge if they were younger or older, usually by how tall they were and how well they walked, etc. She has been very tall for her age since she started walking. It was a good lesson for me to have the super-tall kid, so that I didn't make too many assumptions about other people's kids at the park or play places.
L's brother is 6'7". I have heard L's mom talk since Jellybean was born -- and probably even before that -- about what a struggle L's brother had with always being the tallest kid. People, including his teachers, expected more from him because he was so tall. They would be out somewhere, and an adult or other child would ask him a question and be puzzled with his response. They didn't realize the child they were talking to was 2 years younger than they thought!
Jellybean has continued on the height trajectory similar to L's brother. Now that she is in preschool and interacting more with kids and adults, her height is affecting more and more situations. Even when other kids and adults know her age, they have trouble reconciling that a 3-year-old is the same size as a tall 5-year-old. Combining her height with her strong verbal ability makes it even more of a sticky wicket. Jellybean's preschool teachers have been very good at remembering her abilities, and she's in a mixed-age class, so all the children are accustomed to dealing with others of varying ages. I'd like to say I thought of that ahead of time and that's why we chose this preschool, but it's just luck.
Because I (obviously) have never had experience being "the tall kid," her height/age discrepancy is something I am working on being proactive with out in public social situations. We had an issue the other day of both a child and a mom getting frustrated at Jellybean for not comprehending a social situation. They were forgetting that she is not quite 4. It's easy to do.
So I'm experimenting with different ways to approach this and convey it to strangers, so as to avoid situations like the one the other day. I have a feeling it will be a process for years to come, unless her growth curve plateaus.
3 comments:
That's interesting. I've never noticed that she was especially tall. Perhaps it's because I've not seen her in context with other children who are older and therefore taller. I remember having a great-uncle that was 6'5"-ish. I always felt like I was soaring above the world when he threw me up in the air!
And may I just say, any excuse to use the phrase "sticky wicket' is fantastic? Every since the first time I heard it while watching The West Wing, I've thought it was so fun to say!
I can relate to this. I went through the same thing with our daughter and it didn't help matters that she was exceptionally verbal. I often had to remind myself she was just 3 when I would find myself getting upset when she would cry a lot of what I thought was silly---then I would remember, she's just 3 and its not silly!
I found myself finding ways to bring up her age in public some times. Didn't always help.
We've been experiencing this w/Lauren (dr. says she's on the trajectory to be 6'3"!!!). She's one of the youngest in her class and by far one of the tallest (boys and girls). I can remember being in church and wanted to say to everyone around us, "she's 18 months, she's 22 months, she's two" when she'd act up because she's the size of most 3 or 4 year olds. Now, I LOVE being tall (5'10") but I worry that people will expect more from her. Thankfully she's very verbal so it makes it a tad easier. Let me know if you come up with any good ideas....
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