Monday, January 21, 2008

Height Predictions

The husband and I have been debating amongst ourselves tonight about how tall the kids are going to be when they grow up.

I think that with all the hormones and everything that we inadvertantly feed the kids, they'll both be taller than us. My prediction (and the doctor's when Fellan was 3) is that he will be 6'-3". My prediction for Marxo is that she'll be 5'-8".

The husband's predictions? Fellan will be 6'-1" and Marxo will be 5'-8". Well, at least we agree on the girl!

My husband found this website earlier tonight and plugged in all the numbers for the three different predictions. Fellan is predicted to be anywhere between 5'-11" and 6'-1" and Marxo is predicted to be between 5'-6" and 5'-7.5". According to these predictions, Fellan would be shorter than his dad and Marxo would be only slightly taller than me.

So, what does it say about me that I consistently think that our kids will be taller than the predictions? Am I one of those parents who value height and have a skewed view of my children? (I'm sure that's partially true.) Or, is it just because I'm about 4 inches taller than my mom and about equal height with my dad - and my brother is about 4 inches taller than my dad - that I think all children grow taller than their parents?

Well, I guess we'll just have to wait about 14 years to find out whose prediction is correct...

3 comments:

Courtney said...

Not to find a flaw in your logic, but if all children were taller than their parents, how tall would we be at this stage in evolution?

I think we end up about the same height as our same gender parent typically, although I did outgrow my mom by 2 inches (not an amazing feat as she's only a 5'5/8"- don't scrimp on that 5/8 of an inch). My brother is the same height as my dad, hubby's same height as his dad. His brother is a couple inches taller.

I'll stop rambling now.

Sara said...

Actually, people are getting taller as the years go on. If you look at the furniture, clothing, and even the doorways from the 1700's they're smaller than the same things now. (and I'm not just talking about the width!!)

I believe the theory is that people have better nutrition now and that is contributing to the overall increase in height.

Sara said...

BUT, I just found some data that says "Average height in the United States has remained essentially stagnant since the 1950s."

So, my husband, who is 5 inches taller than his father and I (4 inches taller than my mother) are anomalies.

But we already knew that... :)