We all grow to different lengths - Info for learners

Maybe you are the shortest kid in class, or maybe the tallest.  Maybe there are some children that are calling you names because you are so short or so tall.

There are a lot of things about ourselves that you can change, like for instance the way you treat others, or learning to eat healthier, or loosing weight or exercising, but certain things we cannot change like for instance the color of our eyes, what we look like and how short or tall we are.

            

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The first thing that you need to remember is that all of us grow up eventually.  Not all kids grow at the same pace.  This year you are maybe the tallest in the class, but in a few years most of your friends would catch up to you.

The second thing is that it is in your genes.  You got your genes from your mom and dad which means if they are tall, you will most probably end up tall and if they are very short, the chances are slim that you will grow very tall, but it can happen - nothing is 'set in stone'.  

There is nothing wrong with you, that is just the way you were created and like all things that we cannot change, you need to learn to accept it.

You will go through a few 'growth spurts' during puberty and some kids will stop growing earlier than others.

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Your first 'growth spurt' was in the first year of your life - you grew from a tiny baby into a little toddler that started walking and talking.

Now when you go into puberty - and that also differ from child to child when it will happen - you will grow faster again.  You will hear your mom moan a lot saying "But how can those pants be too short, we just bought it 2 months ago."

Boys and girls also grow at different rates and in primary school, when most of the girls are taller than the boys, the boys do catch up in high school.

It does not mean that if your puberty starts later or you start growing when you are older that you will not grow at all - all of these things happen at different paces for each kid.

Nobody can say with certainty how tall you will grow but if you look at your mom and dad, you will roughly have an idea - it can differ and even if your parent are short, you can grow taller than them and the other way round.

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A lot of worries can come with your height like you are a girl and much taller than all the boys and you are at a school dance.  You cannot ride on all the rides at the fair because you are too short.  You cannot see what is going on in the front of the class because you are too short.  All these things can worry you.  Once again you always have a choice.  You can either sulk about it the whole time or you can accept that you will never be tall or that you will always be the tallest between your friends.

Even though we would love to have a say in this, we do not have any and the sooner you accept yourself and show people that there is more to you than your length, the sooner it will stop bothering you and anybody else.

Live a healthy live and who knows, before you realize it, you will start growing, but if that does not happen accept that live is filled with tall and short people and that does not determine what great things you can accomplish in your life.

If you need to stand on a chair to see, or duck when you enter through a door, so be it.... do not let things that you cannot change hold you back in life.  

Live to the fullest, no matter what you look like and love yourself and be kind to yourself, because if you do not realize how special you are and are good to yourself, nobody else will.

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