Height, Weight and Other Technicalities

Last week, the boys had an appointment with their pediatrician. It was most likely ASid's last! In August, when he turns 18, we have to find ASid a "family doctor". Made it so ominous and official!

It was, as usual, a good visit. Both the boys show their remarkable differences even at their annual checkups. 

So, here are the unfortunate results. ASid is taller than Hans by 10 inches and heavier than Hans by 10 pounds. It seems terribly unfair given how one of them actually pursues sports and the other does not even care to watch sports on TV!

A few days prior to that, we had dinner together at a restaurant and I got a little reminiscent about ASid. I recollected how the boy moved from the regular Kindergarten program to the early French Immersion program and eventually to the French School Board all within a 5 year time frame and before he turned 9! Hans listened to it with fascination and once I wrapped up, he wanted to hear his own "super hero" story from his mother. I did not have an academic story about the little guy, but I did have something to share. I let Hans know that he got his first job at 5 years of age and he worked 3 consecutive summers and earned $2850 before he turned 8! He could have made more if his mother hadn't decided to take him in another direction.

Both the boys are accomplished in their own ways and they should never compare themselves to each other and feel inadequate or resentful in any way.

In my own life, I know men who define themselves with how much money they make or men who define themselves by their jobs. If you take away their money and their jobs, these men are nothing. They are unremarkable and have accomplished very little beyond the obvious and the materialistic.

I want the boys to go beyond their perceived limitations. They could be the shortest in a room, but be giants for people in their lives. They could be the heaviest in a room, but be capable of pulling their own weights and carrying others' if needed. They could be the poorest in a room, but be lavish with their positive actions, valuable time and kind words.

I want the boys to never ever forget that they will always have a choice and it is how they choose that will eventually define them.