Curious if anyone else has seen this. My 8 yr old DS is 5' 2.5". My 6 yr old DD is 4' 2". My daughter's is not as obvious, but my son has been a head taller than his classmates since Kindergarten.
I am 5'10" and my husband is 6'5", so I know genetics plays into it. I am taller than both my parents and my husband is too. His mom and dad are both 5'10" too.
How do you deal with a child who looks like a teenager but acts like his age of 8. Everyone expects him to be so much more mature (calling him goofy or weird). I am getting worried about middle school.
I've thought about putting him in football so at least the kids would be slightly afraid to make fun of him. I know - it's not the best idea in the world. It's just he is so gentle and kind (a gentle giant). He accepts everyone and would help any child out. He wants to include everyone in whenever he has his birthday and tends to talk more to those who are left out of activities at school.
I've already seen how this is affecting him (although he does not see it yet). There is one boy (much shorter) that is already leaving him out of activities - I do believe he will end up being the class bully.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

My now 15 year old is 6' 6" tall and weighs 280 Ibs ( but he's not fat..just big). He has always been taller than the rest of his class. When he was 13 (grade 8) he was alreay 6' tall. As long as he is kind, and does not bother others, he will be fine. If he is worried, then see a doc. If you are worried, calm down. My son is the "gentle giant" as well. However I did join him in a martial arts class (not aggressive-just holds) so that should anyone older and bigger than him try to take him on, he could at least defend himself. Make sure you do not make an issue of it. Just be proud of him. (I did make sure that he was healthy though..had blood tests ect to make sure the quick growth didnt harm him). My middle son is average height but my 6 year old shows signs of being big too...he's already over 4' tall. Towers over everyone. What can you do. As long as he is healthy, and eating healthy and has good family and friends..he'll be fine. Treat him his age, not his size.
By the way, my husband is 6'5 and I'm 5'7" . It must just be in the genes...unfortunatly we just have to buy BIG jeans..lol

THANKS for the response. It helps to know someone else had the same fears I do and everything turned out fine. Although I hadn't thought about someone older trying to take him on - makes the karate seem more worthwhile. He has been taking from a place that teaches tai kwon do/ judo/ hap ki do - a combination karate school and has made it to a brown belt. But because not everyone knows his age - they assume he's older and I see the questions in their eyes and their whispers why he gets "goofy" sometimes - he tries to do power rangers stuff.
I am SO proud of him - his kindness and deep thinking stands him apart from the crowd. His teachers have all noticed and commented on this as well.
Last year, I took the Bringing Up Boys class and one of the things they mentioned was the "cute" nicknames we use for our kids - they take to heart and believe. So since I used to call him big boy - I stopped. I now say things like come here handsome. (I also switched from calling my daughter little bit to beautiful).
My hubby remembers being taller than his third grade teacher, but talking about his towering height as a child makes him emotional - I think he had a hard time with other kids too, and he swears his son will not be like him (as he was as a child). He was always told that because he was bigger that he should never "touch" another child because he could hurt them. Well, my hubby thinks that if my son tells a responsible adult that another child is pushing him and they do nothing to stop it and it continues - he has given him the permission to stop it himself. This is new to me (as of last week), so I'm still not so sure about it. My hubby said that adults always thought he could take the pushing cause he was bigger, but that it would make him mad cause he couldn't do anything back. He felt helpless in this huge body that did nothing for him except allow other kids to pick on him. This has actually now happened at school with my son. A substitute teacher was there when my son was tackled on the playground. When my son went to her, she told him to ignore it. My son went back to play and this kid tackled him again. He told the kid to stop and went and told the teacher again. She once again did nothing. This has what has started this whole mess - this bully kid who now thinks he can get away with pushing or tackling our son and him not do anything.
I'm really at a loss. Any suggestions?
hrtofluv

And the bigger jeans - ha - yep we go through 2 sizes in one season. He used to get hand-me-downs from his cousins age 13 and 12. Now he's already caught up to them - having to actually go buy him clothes now!!!

Well as far as bullying is concerned I havent had to worry about it. My son has grown up being friends with kids younger than him, and older than him. We are also in a very small town in Canada. We have a zero tolerance policy. If any one even "touches" another child on the school yard , they are automatically suspended. I think its a little extreme, but that's a whole other topic..lol As long as your son can defend himself...(horrah for brown belt!) You shouldnt have to worry. If the teachers know your son, they'll know he didnt start anything. Believe me, the school staff will know who to watch. (I volunteer at our schools here, even I know who to watch..)
He'll grow into his body. Yeah he may look odd now playing power rangers with kids he could step on, but when he gets a basketball scholorship and makes 10 million a year, he wont look odd at all! Unfortunatly my son has no interest in sports whatsoever. He keeps getting called to switch schools to play basketball or football. He says NO! He is an academic student, and computer geek. Oh well..I guess he cant get hurt sitting behind a computer...lol
Good Luck. (p.s. my hubby was worried about his size, and being picked on ect...wanted to teach him how to fight ect... It's a man thing!)

Thanks ladywolf - you pegged it - the man thing - also wanting to protect our own. Middle school is murder on your self esteem not matter what you look like - ha!
Yeah - I think mine is more for the academics too - sports are soso with him. My hubby is having him try basketball this year. He didn't like football at all and baseball is okay.
I know that you know this too - it takes some time to adjust to your long limbs and when you get comfortable in your skin again (with anything regarding movement) - you have to adjust again cause you've grown again. Like learning to ride his bike and then the next time the bike's too small again.
Great talking to you! Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone!!!

WOW hrtofluv...your original post word for word could have been written by me!

We have the same problem and I obsess inside almost daily over it. My son is only 7 and in second grade and already 5 ft. tall! He's always been tall for his age and it's always been a problem with other kids. My son too, is loving, gentle, kind, would help anyone, outgoing, friendly and holds doors open for strangers..he's such a great kid...yet, he looks 12 or older, acts it most times, and everyone expects so much more from him. He is a baby really. He's 7 and I have to remind myself all the time. It didn't help that his birthday is in November so he didn't start kindergarten until he was almost 6!
The kids in the neighborhood bully him b/c they call him a baby or weird or whatever b/c they too are so much older and expect more out of him. So, at a young age he's had to learn from us patience, kindness, ignoring them, standing up for himself and not letting people bully him.
He too takes Karate and plays baseball and he's pretty good so that has done wonders for his self esteem.
He is also taller than his teacher which is strange. I love that kid more than words can say and sometimes feel bad for him that's he so big and EVERYONE from strangers to family comments on it! Only I when I see him in his spongebob pj's can appreciate the little boy he is, he's just mature in different ways!
The only time he really shows his age is when he's overtired and melts down over something silly. That's when I have to remain calm and remember he's 7!
Anyway, thanks for listening to me go on and on. I won't even get into my 5 year old daughter that also has a fall birthday and is still in pre-k and already 4 ft. tall and huge and everyone in school asks her why. She's in a pre-teen size 10/12, most of my friends daughters the same age are still in a 4T or 6X and 35-40 lbs!
UGH!
As long as we give love, love them for themselves, be positive role models, all will turn out well I am sure...

Ok, so then its not THAT odd that my 2 year old is 3 feet tall .. she is 3 feet tall ... 29 pounds .. Dad is 6'5 I am 5'0 ...

Oh and if Basketball isnt his thing either ... try vollyball ... her dad played it in high school ... it worked out well for him.

Thanks to everyone for posting. It makes me feel so much better to know I'm not alone.
Healthy2Be - yes I am definately with you - especially the spiderman pjs - he still loves to dress up on some Saturday mornings. And the meltdowns - usually over losing a game (whether sports or computer) if he's overly tired. My son turns nine on Wed - so he is probably the oldest in his 3rd grade class as well.

"Being a mom is having your heart walk around outside your body all day."

Well, that's even stranger b/c my son's birthday is Wednesday also and he turns 8! Not only do we think alike, we have that in common too! LOL.......
Because he started kindergarten at 6 when most kids started at 5, not only was he older but soooo much taller and that just compounds the problem!

My son dresses up too, all the time, loves costumes, right now it's Darth Vader or spy gear...loves to play spy games and military stuff! He's a little boy, yet so big and mature sometimes! LOL...oh well.....he still believes in Santa so that's a plus!

:)

Hey - so does mine - so you will probably get at least another year out of it.
Although, he did say he wanted to ask daddy a question before he sees Santa Claus. I think he may be figuring part of it out and will probably be told in school this year. I'm pretty sure he'll drag it on for his younger sister though - he's good about that.

Helllo my little boy is like 4 foot 4 inches and is 6 years old in grade 1.
I am only 5 foot 1.So pretty sooon he willl be as tall as me and definately taller then me.
Yes he's in grade 1 and trust me,I tooo feeel bad for children who are so much taller.
He looks older but definately acts his age.My son also has Tourettes,ADHD and OCD(compulsive disorder)The pooor child has beeen dealing with alll these problems since age 2.But I did not get diagnoised until he was age 5.The doctors kept saying he was tooo young to have Tourettes or to have problems.They just wanted to blame me and my pooor mother.We have beeen through so much with him.More like people not understanding what he goes through and what you go through and deal with.So basicallly I just stay home(especially because he's in schoool every-day now)if I know he's like moooody or whinny when he gets home,then I would rather just stay home then visiting any-one.That way he does not bother any-one and only I deal with it.I just feeel bad when people get mad at him for whinning and not listening and being a hard head.Then if people(like my family)yelll at him then the pooor child starts doing really bad tics.I feeel so bad for him.So I would rather stay home and just deal with it my-self.I also have a 3 year old litttle girl.They both adore each other.He(her gorgeous bro)callls her sweety.So cute hearing my little boy calll his sister sweeety and cutey.They play so welll together.She actuallly is talll for her age tooo.But not as tall as my son was at her age.She goes to kndergarten in Sept.The kids that are in Junior now,she's taller then them.So the parents think she's in kindergarten.I said noooo not yet,but prettty soon.But she does go to nursery school every morning.She loves it,the teachers even telll me that she's so advanced.But I know it's becuase of her big bro.Every night that child gets home-work.He does not want to do it.I have to fight to make him do his work.But of course my litttle girl tries to scribbble on his work.Ohh then he gets so pisssed.You should seee.But yes both my children are talll for there age.But as usualll girls can get away with acting up.It's the boys who people(parents)get upset wondering why he does not act his age.Until they find out that there child is actuallly older then my little boy.My daughter in peoples eyes can do nooo wrong.Not fair,but what can you do.See ya allll.

In my family it was our daughter who was very tall for her age. My boys were taller than average too (Hubby is 6'4") but it was our daughter who was always commented upon. My sister suggested placing a positive spin on my responses. Other moms would say "oh, she's so tall" with a smirk of disapproval on their faces--I would then say "Yes! Isn't it wonderful!?" I was quite surprised by the response I got then! People think what you persuade them to think. If you think being tall is a fabulous trait (and it IS) and let others know how thrilled you are to have such a healthy and vibrant child they then feel quite "small" in comparison. Worked like a charm.
Oh, and karate lessons are a great idea no matter the size of your child. The lessons in self esteem taught by a good instructor will last them a lifetime.