From The Past: September 26, 2007

I remember years ago when Andrew couldn’t wait until he was big enough to lay his arm flat on the car door when the window was rolled down as we were riding along. That was going to be a big milestone for him in his mind. To him, he was going to be grown up then.

Years after making that statement as I was driving, I noticed that his arm was in fact flat on the door and he was taller in his seat. I reminded him of the milestone he had set for himself and he smiled a little and kept smiling as he thought about it. He would do that around the house too. He couldn’t wait until he was as tall as this cabinet or that piece of furniture.

These days, Ashley does the same thing. A huge milestone for her was getting to sit in the front seat of the truck. Since they put in airbags, I had heard that 12 was a good age to let children sit up front. Ashley is 11 now and in middle school, so I let her sit in the front seat of the truck when we ride together. I still worry because she’s not 12 and she doesn’t weigh a lot, but it was a colossal deal for her.

Like Andrew, she has been excited over finally being as tall as things around the house such as the hand towel rack in the bathroom, being tall enough to reach a cabinet door without a chair, and being able to reach the top of the refrigerator. Those are all big deals.

It was also remarkable to her when she found she could reach the fan cord in the living room:

I’m glad that she’s glad, but I don’t remember doing this as a child. I don’t remember wanting to be a certain height. My height has never been a factor in anything that I can recall. I’m average height and always have been; 5’4 1/2.

I do remember when I was younger having to climb on mom and dad’s counter to reach things inside the cabinets, but I think their cabinets are taller than the standard. It didn’t bother me having to do that though. I was in third grade and it was normal, but I didn’t obsess about it. Actually, I didn’t obsess about much of anything back then except for Barbies and I am still obsessing over them to this day.