The Growth Chart: A Column about Growing Kids, Growing Parents

I felt frail beside my 14-year-old son, but I reminded myself that I was still the parent, and this needed to be done. “Get in the closet!” I ordered. 

He dutifully obeyed, and I breathed a sigh of relief. It’s a good thing he’s obedient.  Making him do things by force ended a long time ago.    

Dakota stood with his back against the wall, straight and silent, enduring what he’d been commanded to do. Enduring? If that sly smile was any indication, he was actually enjoying this ritual.

Would this be the big one? 

The mark that would commemorate his passing up Dad? The year he “hit 6-foot?" I placed the pencil atop his head and drew yet another line on the wall. 

Ah, the pantry wall — littered with scribbles and dates. Lines drawn in pen, pencil, marker, anything we could grab in the moments before school, dinner or bedtime. 

When the children are growing at warp speed, I force their backs against the wall. 

Our growth chart adorns the most treasured wall in our house — a wall we’ll never paint over, no matter how yellowed that white paint turns, a wall we mark for posterity’s sake. To commemorate the journey of these growing years. 

As a mom to a teenage son and a tween daughter, I’m looking forward to sharing with my readers any insight I’ve gained along this journey. As a teacher, I’m passionate about developmental issues, and I especially love to talk about how our experiences, ages birth to 5, shape who we become.  

Parents need affirmation. A pat on the back that says, “Keep going. You’re doing well. And yes, together, we can do even better. …” 

I’m hoping that’s what this column will do for us as parents — prompt much good discussion about parenting at every stage. And provide encouragement.

I don’t profess to have all the answers, but I do know how to ask questions that lead to deeper understanding. I hope that this, in turn, will lead to more great conversation and questions.

Maybe one reason I like “the growth chart” enough to name my column after it is because it’s something concrete that says: “Look at the heights we’ve reached!”

Wouldn’t it be great if we could measure other things in life like that? See progress so clearly? This is where I started out, and this is where I am — in my career, as a volunteer, as a parent. Perhaps this column can become a sort of marker for the parents in this community, North Canton, showing the goals we desire for our children. It could be a discussion that threads much like markings on our collective pantry wall.

I’m not sure exactly how a little boy grows to be six inches taller than his mama. It seems absolutely impossible that this could be a fact of my life. If I think too hard on it, my heart might explode. So I just look up and smile, and wonder at the amazing way he’s helped me to grow, too.