Back in 1999, when we first moved to Washington, Kathy and I had only three children. Then David and Sarah were born in 2001 and 2002, and suddenly we were a tribe. As my foul-weather friend Tom used to say, “Tim has five children, but they ride like a thousand.”
When your kids are small, you sometimes wonder if they will ever be out of diapers. Twice in our family history, we have had two in diapers at the same time, which is definitely too much of a good thing.
Which way is the beach? The beach is that way.
These days things are a little different. With two of my sons standing well over six feet, and another with a gleam of upward-mobility in his eye, I often feel a bit diminished in comparison. I find myself seeking the high ground when we are photographed together, not that it does any good.
I am reminded of the line in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in which one of the town girls describes the Pontipee men. “They’re all as tall as church steeples,” she exclaims in admiration.
A couple of weeks ago I had a follow-up appointment from my kidney surgery (more about that on another day).
“How tall are you?” the doctor asked, in a voice that seemed to hold very little interest in my answer.
“Oh, 5-foot-10 1/2, maybe 5-foot-11 on a good day,” I told him, chuckling nervously.
Brusquely, he measured me. “Nope. 5 foot, 10 inches,” he informed me with a minimum of compassion. Gone, apparently, are the days in the Army when a charitable staff sergeant measured twenty-year-old-me at 6 feet even. Or maybe the cares of the world and the weary work of parenting has bowed me down to a shadow of my former height?
My three sons a-looming.
Daniel’s life ambition is to be taller than Joshua, and he seems well on his way, if only by craftily choosing his ground. I guess I will have to take refuge in the fact that I still outweigh them each by a significant margin.
Tim
Doctors are great for lots of things, but measuring height is not one of them. They have no idea what they are doing. But to be honest, height is more a state of mind than it is a real physical quality, so it kind of varies from day to day in my experience.
I’ve been trying to ‘think tall’ all day long, but so far, it hasn’t had any effect.
I think it’s the slouchy pajama pants – they cause sleepy, settle in and watch a movie thoughts, not TALL thoughts. Or maybe that’s too much information. “Too Far!” as Rachel says.
Nice blog. I’m short too don’t worry!!=)
Thanks, Sarah. I never really thought of myself as ‘short’ — I guess it all depends on the company one keeps. Now I see why kings often had their thrones up on a dais — they got tired of all those uppity princes towering over them, blocking their view.
I find that doctors are often incorrect when measuring my height and weight. I have no idea where they come up with those numbers.
I have one child left who hasn’t passed me up – the 8 year old. I fear she’ll pass me shortly. LOL It IS nice to have so many around who can reach the toppest shelves. LOL
De’Etta – I noticed your kiddos (boys AND girls) were getting quite tall. These children, thinking they can all grow up and start to leave us. Sniff sniff.
Joshua – so true! So, I shouldn’t be worried that I’m really 5′ 7 and 1/2 instead of 5’8 since height is more a relative thing? Whew. Of course, being a girl it’s easier to get some height. Put on a nice pair of heels and you’re good to go (if you don’t trip and fall, that is).