Dynamite Comes in Small Packages

[Sendmorecoffee]

My youngest child has Russell Silver Syndrome. It's a form of dwarfism. If you saw her you would not notice the minor differences in her proportions. She's just short. She has entered puberty and very soon she will stop growing. Most of her friends are already about six inches taller than she is. The difference will widen as she gets older. By the time she is an adult most women her age will be a foot taller than she is.

If you meet a little person you might want to know that they prefer to be called little people, or dwaves if you must. Midget is considered an insult. My daughter has a lot of friends but some kids do tease her about her height and call her a midget. Some well meaning adults tell us "She might have a growth spurt, you never know".

No, she won't. There's nothing wrong with her size. I'll be Shaq's mom was never told "He may stop growing, you never know." Like that would be a good thing. I also hear "my grandmother was 4' 11"." Well, my daughter will never make 4' 11", 4' 7" is going to be about it for her, and when your grandmother was 4' 11" the average height was 5" 3" not 5' 8". She knows she's different and she's O.K. with that. The only thing that bothers her is that some people seem to think her size is a problem.

My daughter is short, right now just rather short, but soon, abnormally short. She'll probably need a stepstool. She'll have to disable the airbags in her car. She's also wickedly smart, skipped a grade, is in GATE and on the honor roll, talented, plays the steel drums, sings in her school choir and belly dances and has personality to burn. If you meet her treat her by her age, not her size. If you get to know her you'll probably forget she's only 10 anyway.

[honeyb3]

Apr. 10, 2009 at 4:52 PM

Thank you for sharing. I think your daughter sounds interesting.  :)

Body image is an issue for a lot of people I think. I myself wish the average height for a woman really was 5'8. I would love to be able to walk into any store and find clothes that fit my 5'9 athletic frame. I don't even have the option of having things tailored, because you can make things shorter/smaller a lot easier than making things bigger/longer. *shrugs* You get used to it.

[Momtocccd]

Apr. 10, 2009 at 4:57 PM

Your daughter sounds awesome! Thank you for sharing!