I am four feet, eleven inches and three quarters. There is NO DENYING the fact that I am short- I get it- in fact shave a few inches off my height and I’d qualify to join the ranks of little people. I’m not in any sort of denial- which is why I made it a point to ALWAYS date guys who were over six feet tall. I figured if I married a guy with height I’d give my kids a fair shake at being far taller than me.
Then I met my sugar daddy, who SWORE he was 5’9″ ( which I figured was just two inches shy of my six foot requirement so I’d let it slide). And short of measuring him with a yard stick ( I checked his Driver’s license to confirm the legality of his height- which I’ve now come to realize that the good old DMV will put ANY height you tell them on your driver’s license- so that barometer is essentially useless). But the truth is when I met my husband I was smitten- after our first date which lasted six hours and I pretty much knew he was my lobster.
I guess the whole height requirement, and any other strict guidelines one has when you meet someone who you instantly feel a chemical reaction to flies out the window- that is until you have kids- and your mother tells you that your son is not growing as tall as he should be and maybe it’s time to take him to the doctor to see if he might qualify for growth hormone shots.
Yes, my little, sweet boy, like me, is the shortest one in his class. He’s also scrappy and funny and I’ve NEVER even hinted to him that he’s anything but perfect in every way.
I really I don’t want to be one of those mothers. I don’t want to care about how tall my kid might grow. I don’t want to even fathom having to inject him with shots that maybe, just maybe , might give him an extra three inches of height. I also believe that our children are products of the way we speak to them and the confidence we instill in them. For instance if I don’t harp on the fact that my son is of short stature and don’t make it part of his daily vocabulary – perhaps his stature won’t define him.
I want to believe that our physical appearances don’t reflect who we are and that those who will love and appreciate him will do so because of his spirit, his personality- and his infectious grin.
But I also know that we don’t live in a fairytale world. The real world is a silicon and botox enhanced one where appearance is unfortunately a huge part of what we base our initial judgments on.
Like it or not, short men, no matter how smart, exceptional and even how much MONEY they have are judged more harshly because of their short stature. And why wouldn’t I want to give my kid the best possible start in a world that is rife with so many opportunities for disappointments?? It make sense but at what cost?
Would you give your child growth hormone shots?
I think he’s still young. My brother in law was SUPER tiny til he was 18 and then seemingly over night he shot up to 6ft tall. Your boy definitely has time to grow!
I have a son who fell below the 3 percentile for height beginning at about age 5. By middle school, he looked like he was years younger than his friends. On the pediatrician’s recommendation, I took him to see a pediatric endocrinologist who specializes in growth disorders. After an xray of his wrist, it was determined that his bone age was in fact about 3 years younger than his chronological age. The endocrinologist preformed a growth hormone test, which determined that his body produced growth hormones just fine all one its own. There was no need for growth hormone shots. The doctor looked my son in the eye and said, “You are blessed with younger bones than most kids your age, but your bones know how to grow. We have measured that. You are perfectly normal. Not all kids are so fortunate, but you are a healthy boy that will just grow late. While you may not be 6 ft tall, your bones will take you to the height that God intended you to be.” My son left that appointment and held his head high for the first time in years. Instead of basketball, he took up other interests, and now he is 20 years old and taller than his dad at 5’10”. If you were to ask him, he would tell you to have your child tested. If your body can’t produce enough growth hormone on its own so you can reach the height your are supposed to be, then consider growth hormone shots just like you would consider supplementing insulin for a diabetic. But sometimes just hearing from the doctor, “You are completely healthy and normal,” is the best medicine for both mom and child!
It’s really hard to say what I’d do. I’ve always been painfully average, lol, so I don’t even have a way to truly relate to the situation. But I don’t think I’d mess around with grown hormones if it was clearly heredity and it wasn’t a problem medically. That said, no judgement here. It is an issue I don’t deal with and I really don’t know if I’d feel differently if I were in your shoes. AND the fact that he’s a boy makes it harder too. I do get that it is really tough for men to be short – more so than for women.
What decision did u make? Our daughter is GH deficient and will be starting the shots soon.
I’m considering GH for my oldest son. His younger brother (18 mos. younger) is the same height as my oldest. My older son is also the smallest in his class and I’m afraid when his younger brother passes him in height that he’ll be even more self conscious. Yet I’m worried about the long term effects. What decision did you make?