Enough!
After another scary dream about Sophie being hit by a car and bumping her head really hard on a curb - I have decided that I am internalizing way too much of her elementary school angst.
Monday at dinner she completely broke down at the table and cried, telling me that she no longer wanted to be tall. Considering that I am 6 feet tall and her father is 6'5" - I don't think she has much choice in the matter.
Apparently, her friend Kayla gets a lot of attention when she falls down. Kayla is tiny. Really, really tiny. Disturbingly small in an almost unhealthy way. She is one of those kids that has translucent skin - you can see that big vein that runs over her jaw line. Sophie said that everyone worries so much about Kayla if she hurts herself, but no one really rushes to Sophie if she has some sort of schoolyard wreck.
The entire time I am thinking..."That's because you are bouncy and happy and the healthiest looking kid I have ever seen - and, you can laugh at yourself."
Please, please don't let her start hating her height. Or anything about herself. It is too soon.
Why is "fragile" so attractive? For once I would love to see kids on the school yard (or hell even adults in life) demand a little strength from their friends. A little daring. Some spark for Christ's sake! Isn't picking yourself up, dusting yourself off and moving on with a laugh a hell of a lot more interesting than laying in a puddle of your own weakness?
It's time for a seriously goofy family outing. The beach, or a cabin in the San Juans - and a bit of daring, devil-may-care adventure.
For my girls, living a good life will never mean needing to have someone there to pick them up, if I have anything to say about it!
posted by Shari @ 10/04/2007
6 comments
6 Comments:
I blame it on all the attention the 'poor little things' that get so much attention in the media.
Being helpless is all the rage these days.
It makes me sick.
Enjoy your mini vacation! I hope to take the Nooze on one soon!
Dude, the secret is to fall spectacularly oh and often (as is my style) then your falls get all the attention they warrant and soon you'll find yourself wishing you didn't get so much damned attention when you wipe out. But then again, I'm not tall, although certainly not "fragile" either. I'm what they would call "robust" in the old country.
I love your girls. And for what it's worth, I don't know if it is possible to make it through puberty without having something to be insecure about. Here's to her coming around to loving her height. They're really both so damned fantastic that if you ever wanted to get rid of them for a week you ship them my way. We have a ton of museums and just about all of my cousins have kids for them to play with.
No? You think about it.
Ah, ouch.
The envy of hte tiny girl still lives in me. At 5'10" I'm pretty darned tall, and at "very strong" I'm nobody's idea of a shrinking violet. I'm at peace with it now, as I'm sure you are about YOUR height, but those early years are tough.
Hugs help. Baby your baby, and if I'm any judge, she'll feel better enough to keep on keepin' on. It woked for my Thing 2, who at 10 years old is 5'6" and has hands as big as mine. I try to keep him my baby as long as I can... :>
This bugs me like crazy too, but I think it does balance out in the end...
People that shout and piss and moan and demand the most attention, often get it.
People that dust themselves down and just get on with it, get overlooked.
But they are the heroes in the world. And the folk that you want to notice that kind of thing will (because they're likely to be of a similar bent themselves...)
I wish i were taller than 5'2". It's no barrel of laughs.
Just think though, tall people do the following well:
Play basketball
Model (essence of evil, but you have to be tall)
They can reach the top shelves at the supermarket
They can reach places other people cant and they can be really useful.
Me? I have to ask for help all the time and i'm crap at basketball.
*sigh*
Trust me, being the "fragile" one is no treat. When I was little, nobody would let me do the things I wanted, because I might get hurt. Even now, everyone acts like I'm helpless and made of china. (Well, ok, so I did fall out of the ceiling, but it was only that one time!) I would much prefer to be the tall kid than the Oompa-Loompa!
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