To wonder why so many parents describe their children as....

[ILoatheMickeyMouseClubhouse]

Being "tall and skinny" and "very bright". This seems to be commonplace on any internet forum threads about either childrens' clothing or childrens' abilities. Everyone will claim to have tall skinny children or very bright children.

Surely there must be some children that aren't those things?

DS (16 next week)
tall, broad shouldered (6ft and 11 stone) but skinny, if that makes sense (classic swimmers triangle) Highly intelligent (words of most of his teachers) Fun loving, but a deep thinker and mature. Does stupid things like get up at 3 in the morning to walk 40 miles to cambridge with his mates Dyslexic problems so can't spell and will forget where he put something a few moments ago.

DD (14next week)

tallish (taller than me and everyone on my side of the family anyway) about 5'5, thin but curvy. teachers describe her as superbly bright, she is also very bubbly and quick witted. She rushes her way through life, but should stop to think sometimes. Not brilliant at sports, but very musical.

So mine are tall, thin and bright

My daughter is short and round with the biggest, hairyest hobbit feet I've ever seen on a girl.

She is seriously academically gifted. She had a barrage of tests when she was assessed for AS and they said she was in the top 2% and that wasn't even allowing for the fact that she did all the tests in a foreign language that she'd only been learning for a year at the time. She can't however make herself a slice of toast without burning the house down.

2.2 DS is tall. And he's bright - by which I mean he is happy and friendly, talks a lot, is interested in learning and appears to pick things up quickly, although as he's currently my only DC I have no frame of reference.

He's also very loving and affectionate and placid, so far not given to tantrums.

Interesting to learn that describing him as bright makes me middle class.

all children are bright imo.

I used to love it when I would get my dds weighed and measured when they were babies and the HV would beam at me that they were 'average' as if it was the best thing in the world. I used to say to them, 'well done, you're average.'

DS1 6'2 and the body of a Greek god, photographic memory and prone to nerdy obsessions.
DS2 5'2 and a little chubby, sensitive and kind. Always looking after the underdog.

Well....

Ds1 is tall, intelligent and wonderful company.
Dd is very slim and bright and very loving
ds2 is physically very able (learnt to swim and ride a bike at a ridiculously early age)
ds3 is a baby and very cute

Easy to be positive, but what I haven't said is that ds1 is a bit chubby at the mo, dd can be such a madam and very short, ds2 is a complete nutter. Ds3 is still just a baby and very cute

See, I just don't get the 'indignant protest' thing. It's a statement of fact - DC2 is taller than average and robust built; DC1 requires clothes 2 years above her chronological age for correct length and fits clothes 3 years below in terms of "width". PITA to keep typing though.

If this were a thread about hair colour, would I be indignantly protesting that, for instance, one had brown hair and one had ginger hair? Or indignantly protesting about their shoe size if I sought advice about (say) needing extra wide or long shoes ?

DS is 6 foot, the overall shape of a beanpole, and is about to start university.

Can I have a badge for my "indignant protesting"?

Or does it count as honesty/objectivity since it is entirely accurate?

it makes me laugh when you look at their profile pics and the skinny child is not!

Well, my dd is fairly short and very skinny. I wouldn't describe her as slim, because that would imply that she was properly in proportion to her height. She isn't, she is underweight.

I do describe her as bright sometimes. If you would prefer me to say that she is sickenlingly clever and streets ahead of many of her classmates, I can, but I might be told off for boasting. "Bright" is more socially acceptable.

My DC are both on the short side, like me and DH, but I've just never had cause to mention it, mostly because all my clothing problems can be fixed with taking hems up an inch.

"it makes me laugh when you look at their profile pics and the skinny child is not!"

does that include my two?

I once overheard a conversation between 2 women in a supermarket, who knew each other and from what I gathered each had a son of the same name.

A: How's your DS?
B: Oh, he's a little shit.
A: Oooooh, my DS is a little shit too!
B: I think it's the name. Karen has a (whatever the name was) and he's a little shit as well!

I can't help thinking that it might have been nicer if the conversation had been more full of talk about how tall and skinny they were all getting! What made it worse is that the second woman's son was standing right there while his mother described him as a 'little shit' with both women looking pointedly at him!

Ds1 was tall and skinny and bright. A year later, he is very tall, getting pretty fat, and is very cleverindeed. What I talk about, though, is how gorgeous he is with ds2. It's enchanting.

I know I bore for britain about both kids, but will still point out their bizarrely short legs/sticky out ears etc. but only to close friends [gr
in].
Btw,i don't think it's true that a all kids are described like that. There are millions of posts from mothers worrying about their kids/development/health, so it's good for them to focus on the good stuff.
Ps Surely looking at the g&t section is not going to be representative of anything helpful; isn't it a pretty, um, esoteric group?

Perzackly, marymary !

DD1 was a wierd looking child 6m-2y, and is now my mirror image. She's intelligent, loves facts, Is fantastic at maths, and is a complete pain in the arse. (know it all 7 going on 14)

DD2 is the messy one, has the memory span of a goldfish, and is impossible to dress. She's very cute though! (6)

DS is DS. He's Very cute, cheeky, demonic, destructive, and doesn't sleep. Ever. (nearly 2. yawn)

I describe my DC as all brains and no common sense - which sums them up perfectly.

One is taller than me - one is shorter than me.

jazzchickens, my DS is the same a bit taller than me,loads of brains and no common sense,sometimes I wish he was more 50/50

Mine are tall, normally-shaped smartypantses with enormous feet. Oh, and they're drama queens too.

Is that non-standard enough or shall I embarrass them some more?

So Its all in my imagination that my kid is skinny and bright then? He's 15, nearly 6 ft with a 30" waist. He's in the top 5% of the top class in his grammar school. The word "gifted" was mentioned in his school report. His brother was also described as gifted by an educational psychologist.
Perhaps parents of these gifted kids spent more time on the internet looking for support on how to manage their cleverness.

bruffin - yes yours too. They are clearly furry with nice whiskers

My mum always described us as 'short by modern standards'. She would never describe us as 'bright' even though we were all top set kids. If anyone else did say we were clever, she'd say 'don't let them hear that or their heads won't fit through the door frame'. I had an excellent childhood, and her odd negativity never gave me a complex. Funny how attitudes to parenting change!

I think i would describe ds1 as tall stocky and quick witted,with big blues and dimples, and ds2 as average height, stocky and a total cutie pie, however gets dirty v quickly!!