Comparing heights of children

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I have a mum friend who often mentions her kids’ heights when they happen to be taller than mine at the time. Like oh is James taller than Ben now? Oh yes look he is. And with our girls as well. I don’t get it. My DD is taller than hers now I think and suddenly it’s not mentioned.

She herself is quite tall but within normal range.
My sister is 5ft10 and often mentions her height. I’m not that much smaller than her.

aibu it really doesn’t matter if kids are taller or shorter unless you think there’s an actual medical problem?!!! Not sure why she keeps mentioning it.

I would SO love you to obsessively find a half centimetre difference (if you are the slightly taller) & bang on & on & on about it ....

Everyone talks about how tall my son is, I think it's because I'm so short, they comment in disbelief.

Dp is very tall though so no big surprise really

On the flip side, my Y8 12 year old daughter is 5ft 9in - it is the first thing people say to her. All the usuals, ‘wow, has mum put you in a grow bag overnight’ or ‘you’re taller than me now, stand back-to-back’!!
I assume people think they are being complimentary but it’s not ideal for a kid who is self-conscious about her height and feels so awkward near her friends.

I must be too small to see as no one responds to my posts 😅

Oh yes, I've had that too! People barely taller than me going on and on about it and making jokes at me. So strange! And obviously not funny.

I was obsessed with my dcs height, it was because I was constantly amazed at having such tall children when my family are all short. Other people are obsessed about their children's eating habits, or sports prowess or reading ability or even boldness. People just like talking about their children. I wouldn't read anything into it.

I know I'm slightly shorter than average and she's slightly taller. It was odd

I've two boys with a two year age gap. My side of the family is slightly below average, whilst my husband's side are 6 foot plus. The youngest has been taller than his brother for quite some time, just one of those things.

Oh lord, I come across this all the time. Weirdly smug about height and shoe size! I have girls and it happens a lot, I imagine with boys it happens even more so.

I also know a mum who is strangely pleased with herself that her daughter has very long hair.

Oh this is me! Although I don’t bring it up, I’m just secretly pleased if somebody else does. DD has the most beautiful thick long shiny hair - she’s only 3 but it’s never had that baby/wispy texture. Some Chinese tourists stopped to point at the ‘baby with the hair’ when we were in town a few months ago 😂

As a woman I’m just relieved she has the sort of hair that won’t take much maintenance to look lovely.

Yes, this I also find very weird. Partly because a school friend (with very long hair) would mention it a LOT. There isn’t that much to say about hair that hasn’t been cut for a while.

Just making polite converstaion, surely?

There are also disadvantages to being tall such as the increased risk of cancer.
But I do try to never comment on children’s appearances in any way, whether mine or anyone else’s. It would be nice if society could change a bit in that respect.

I had a completely irrational desire for my DD to have really long hair when she was young, I think partly because my parents forced persuaded me to have an awful bowl cut when I was about 7 and I immediately wanted my long hair back.🤣 As a child, I always perceived the girls with the longest hair to be the prettiest and they always got the lead roles in the school play
DD had her hair cut by over 12" and it looks so much healthier, and cuts her shower time/hair drying time down when she washes it which has to be a bonus!

I think it's typical British small talk, like the weather is. My yr 3 7 year old is tall ish and everyone comments on it - just had to buy 9-10 trousers as his others are like cropped 🤣

I'm only 5'2 so I just laugh it off and say he gets it from me internally irritated that he'll be taller than me very soon 😁

Everyone likes a competition like the baby race episode of bluey it's exhausting, kids grow that's what they do !

I knew a school mum like that. In my spiteful moods I dreamed of congratulating her on having a child that achieved something that took no talent, dedication, or hard work whilst changing the topic to my (short) daughter’s latest gold medal win for the bars at regional level gymnastics. All purely in my head though, so I nodded and agreed how lovely that they’re growing so big!
My daughter is a teenager now who quit gym and much prefers TikTok’s and makeup. She’s still small though, but never try to tease her about it, she’ll have your shins.

I had a friend who was obsessed about her sons' heights. It was wearing listening to her. DD3 and her DS1 were born four weeks apart. He was always a bit taller than her until they hit puberty. DD then grew a few inches taller than him. Perfectly normal !! No she went on and on about it. There was nothing her ds my DD or I could do about it or had any interest in it. After about two years he took a massive growth spurt and grew to over six foot. My DD stopped at five foot so there's a bit of a difference 😂. The chances of her DS being taller were very very high. Her and her DH are a lot taller than DH and I. I ended the friendship over other issues but I don't miss the constant comparison. She had a major issue with another friend of ours. Her son's are 6'6 and 6'8 so taller than hers.

Actually @Babooshka1990 you aren’t far off the average height for a woman in the Uk. Whereas it is your husband that is substantially shorter than average

but I think she’s a bit of a frenemy in that she can be a bit contrary/odd with me on a few things so will probably back off a bit.

I was grateful our older children are in different classes because she can be a bit ‘competitive

op you don’t seem to like this “friend” very much. In fact, you seem to very much dislike her! 😂