tall & the F&*#ed up BMI

tall, a photo by Mylittlefetish on Flickr.

This is my 11 year old, Miranda, standing next to my partner, Frankie after her softball game. While yes, Frankie is rather on the short side (much like me), Miranda on the other hand is freaking tall. She gets a kick out of comparing her height to Frankie's every time she gets to see him. I think they are pretty darn close (Because I know Frankie normally wears shoes with thick soles) but he says she has an inch to go. Miranda is the tallest kid in her class and has been since 2nd grade. She doesn't have a problem with this and she likes being tall. 

She's 5'1" tall and when she went to the Dr for her check up, the Dr told her she was overweight by 20 pounds. Her step mom took her..because had I been there the Dr and I would have had WORDS. 

Miranda plays ball. And when I tell you she plays ball I mean she plays Hard. She doesn't have much natural talent but she makes up for it in heart. She needs to have energy to play and that comes from food. We don't eat out much and even when we do, she likes healthy food because that's what we eat at home and she likes it. She likes fruits and veggies, doesn't drink very much soda and sports drinks are for games only. 


Her coach loves that no matter what she tells Miranda to do, she does it, without question and immediately. When her coach gave them a verbal check list of the way they needed to be dressed for games, Miranda went home, made a list and checks it off each time she gets dressed. Right down to her shoes being double knotted. Then she shows up and expects her coach to inspect her uniform. LOL If she has forgotten something, even something so simple as a signed paper, she freaks. 


She thrives on schedule, consistency and clear concise instructions. We're suggesting a military career but she's hesitant about that because she doesn't want to have to learn to shoot a gun. She's asked me to look into branches that wouldn't require that. 

But my kid is a little neurotic. If someone tells her she has to do something, or something is wrong, she obsesses over it like you would not believe. She makes lists of how to deal with this. She asks daily how much sweets she can have...that includes fruit...and what time she should be in bed by even on weekends. We left her home for a evening alone and instead of taking advantage and eating more candy or staying up late when she totally could have gotten away with it, she called me asking the same things. 


And now, thanks to an out dated BMI scale and a Dr. with no idea what this kid does on a daily basis and didn't bother to ask, she has her first issue with her weight. She whispered it to me through the dug out fence, covered in dirt where she just slid home; sweaty and tired from playing for an hour and a half on a school night. 


I am going to go home today and paint on my bathroom scale "You are so much more than just a number on a scale. This scale doesn't weigh your loving heart, your intelligent mind, or your sparkling personality."Just in case she gets on it.  I am going to paint "YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!" On the bathroom mirror so she see's it every time she looks at it.  I'm going to paint "Good Food is good for you. Eat when you are hungry." On the fridge because it is full of food that is good for her. 


Then I am going to fire her doctor.