WAG RANT: My 10yo is not a giant!

[Sneezyone]

I am sick of adults commenting on my DDs height! She's 4'10 and starting optionals this year, a perfectly normal and healthy height and weight.

I realize that we live in a part of the world where women and girls are of short stature and are possibly slower to mature but that doesn't mean my kid is in any way abnormal given *her* genes or that she is destined to be 6'5" like her dad...SHE'S ADOPTED.

I am tired of biting my tongue.

I am tired of the bars not being adjusted for the 'taller' girls so DD has to work twice as hard not to tap them (straddles aren't allowed).

I shouldn't feel like I have to explain to nosy Nancy that my kid's already gone through puberty so there's not much upward growth left!

Ugh.

I believe only the 8-10s are allowed to do their glides straddled. It's gonna be a long season.

 

[MILgymFAM]

My YDD is 11 and 5'2, so I feel you on that and the comments. Really glad bars are no longer an issue in any way (she switched to T&T). My ODD is 5'6 and does smack her toes sometimes, on the bars and the mats. It's sometimes too much of pain for the coaches to switch the settings just for her. It can certainly be frustrating. Especially since my ODD is the tallest in gym, but usually the shortest amongst non-gym friends.

 

[Sneezyone]

She's not even the tallest but she is the tallest 10yo. They always mistake her for 12 or 13.

 

[MILgymFAM]

Heck I gave up on guessing gymnasts ages. They all either look older or younger. My DDs gym friend who is her age is about 7 inches shorter than her. You can just never tell. I figure they can all be teammates, they can all be friends- and age differences be damned. We had a lovely play date with a teammate the other day who is five years younger than my DD. They swam and had a picnic and it was all good.

 

[flippin out]

My dd had 4 girls on team all within 9 mo of each other with her when she was levels 4-8. In school, she was on shorter end, but not shortest in class. Of the 4 of them on team, She used to be 2nd tallest and oldest of them, with the shortest of them being several inches shorter. At 12yrs old there was 1 girl a half an inch taller and the other 2 were a couple inches shorter than her. .....Well, she stopped growing when she was 12 years old, she's 5'1". The others all range from 5'7" to 5'4".

So....being tallest at 10 means nothing.

 

[Committed]

My 8yo is 4'5" despite only growing 1 inch in the past year. She's the same height as the 10yos on her team.

She's always been "giant". I have giant children. It is what it is. I doubt she will be any taller than 5'8" though.

 

[sce]

I hear it a lot about my 11yo. She is about as tall as your 10yo. She does look really tall at the gym. She also has long legs, which are pretty noticeable. But she is by no means tall for her age. I also agree that kids grow at different gets and rates, so how tall someone is at 10yo may not be any reflection on them being the tallest or shortest later on.

 

[GYM0M]

I feel the sting too, just on the flip side. I know 'traditionally' gymnasts are on the shorter side, but if one more person asks me if I've taken my 3'10, 9.5 year old to see a doctor, I might blow a lid!!! Yes, she's short.....No, she doesn't have any 'conditions!'..... She's been short, even in the womb! At my mid-term sono, her legs measured a much younger age. Kids, just like everything else, differ in so many ways! I like to think that people just don't realize that the things they say are hurtful sometimes. I mean, it's not like their comments are overly inappropriate, it's just that I get soooo tired of it! To the point where sometimes I feel like shouting "I don't have to explain ANYTHING to YOU!" I completely get your frustration! Oh, & if I get one more 'nutritional' program from an urgent care provider, I think I might literally lose it!

 

[raenndrops]

YG will be 11 at the end of October. She is 4'10" also. She acts older than 10 and this will be her 5th season on team. Putting it all together makes people think she is older than she is. Her best friends on team are 13-14... and she is taller than one of them.

I agree that size should not be a huge topic of conversation and coaches should not be lazy. There is only one bar that YG practices kips on because the others are too low. Keep your chin up. And IF you need to tell someone off, remember - not in front of the children

 

[dmbgymnast]

I feel your daughters pain. I am 5'8, and just finished my level 3 season. Half the time, I can't really work skills on bars, because the bars aren't adjusted for my height. (I can't say that this doesn't make sense, I'm 8-9 inches taller than the second tallest girl.) However, I have always been super tall, (think a 5'4 10 y/o) but I don't think I will ever get over the rec, pre team and level 2 parents whispering to other parents or their kids "do you know her," "oh wow shes REALLY tall", and a couple "shes WAY too tall for gymnastics". Sorry about my personal rant, but hey, at least I have an advantage on vault ;D

 

[profmom]

Look on the bright side. She'll be the first one to get her straddle back!

People should not comment on children's size and stature in such a manner. And equipment is adjustable for a reason.

 

[B.Gold]

The height thing irritates me too!! My dd is a giant next to her gym friends but was one of the smallest kids in her sixth grade class. She is in the bottom third for percentiles.

I bet there is no other group of parents, in any sport or activity, and moms mostly, who are as guilty as gym moms for constantly having the girls stand back to back for height comparison. And no other group of moms who discusses, as much, the stage of puberty their girls are in at any given moment. It was never the topic of conversation for my other children. It's ridiculous!!

If they are strong enough to lift their own weight, who cares!!!

 

[gopuckgo]

It's ridiculous! I remember getting the same thing in Basketball when I was young, " your too short, you need to be tall to play" and same thing in Volleyball. It seems as if there is this unspoken rule in sports that if your body type doesn't fit then don't try. I think that is ridiculous! Just look at Misty Copeland who now stars on Broadway and is a Prima and was told similar things. If it is your passion, pursue it and if it's meant to be in your life it will be, despite the rabble.

 

[Deleted member 17723]

I get that. I am not the tallest on my team, but I am 5'4.5" and competed level 4 last season. I straddle or my kip so it wasn't awfulll but it was pretty tough. Speak up, just not in front of other people. Make it a private conversation

 

[Deleted member 18037]

gym moms for constantly having the girls stand back to back for height comparison.

Had to laugh at this one.

Our girls line up in size order. They are the ones always measuring each other because they all don't want to be "the short one". And heaven forbid they are the same size they will jostle for the spot on the taller side of the line. They compete even on height.

 

[Vivianflips]

I'm the tallest team girl at my gym, only by an inch though. All my life I've been told by doctors how I'm so very tall and will probably be 6' full grown, I haven't grown in 2 years, I'm 5'4.5". I turn 15 soon so it's pretty likely I won't get any taller though as with everything there is always a chance. I can do both pike and straddle for glide swings, though I'm much closer to my kip with the straddle. Your daughter certainly is NOT a giant! And anyone who says such things maybe needs to put a little more thought into it before saying such possibly hurtful things!

 

[kris]

My DD was the youngest and tallest level 8 at her gym last season, and she's not even quite 5' so outside the gym she's always the short one.

 

[motigymnasticsmom]

I'm proud to say that my DD is a tall beautiful giant. Sometimes I tell her she's like the "jolly green giant" or a xenon warrior. She's 5'7" and might grow more, can never tell. Her height never got in the way of her Gymnastics until this year.

 

[meganliz77]

Had to laugh at this one.

Our girls line up in size order. They are the ones always measuring each other because they all don't want to be "the short one". And heaven forbid they are the same size they will jostle for the spot on the taller side of the line. They compete even on height.

Same thing for our girls, and my DD is usually at the tail end of the line... But, there are only 2 other girls her same age and they are the youngest on the team (most are 10 and up)... So between the 3 of them they are constantly competing for that not-quite-the-shortest spot

 

[mimi]

I feel the sting too, just on the flip side. I know 'traditionally' gymnasts are on the shorter side, but if one more person asks me if I've taken my 3'10, 9.5 year old to see a doctor, I might blow a lid!!! Yes, she's short.....No, she doesn't have any 'conditions!'..... She's been short, even in the womb! At my mid-term sono, her legs measured a much younger age. Kids, just like everything else, differ in so many ways! I like to think that people just don't realize that the things they say are hurtful sometimes. I mean, it's not like their comments are overly inappropriate, it's just that I get soooo tired of it! To the point where sometimes I feel like shouting "I don't have to explain ANYTHING to YOU!" I completely get your frustration! Oh, & if I get one more 'nutritional' program from an urgent care provider, I think I might literally lose it!

We are in the same exact position with my DD. She is about to turn 13 and is only about 4'5". I'm soooo tired of people commenting on her size. Since when did it become socially acceptable to spout off about how someone looks, regardless of whether he or she is tall, short, thin, heavy? Most of the time people make the comments right in front of her!