Measure Me

There are several advantages to living your entire childhood in one house. The most prominent in my mind is the measuring spot. For those of you who are not familiar with this custom, it is usually a doorway that gets marked with the height of each child. A parent stands the child straight up against the door frame, places a ruler on their head and extends it as level as possible to the door jamb. The door jamb is marked and dated. The child can see how much they have grown over the past few months. Every few months children seem to realize that they are a bit bigger will exclaim, “Measure Me!”

Children only see the advantages of growing up. They know the taller they get the more independence they gain. Looking back I personally wish I could have stopped all my growth and ageing at age 11. Eleven years of age was for me the perfect age. That is when you are old enough to understand most things, yet remain sheltered from things 11 year olds shouldn’t have to be subjected to. It was all fun and little responsibility when I was eleven.

My wife moved in with me when her children were ages 7 and 11. Before they moved in they had lived in three rental homes and one home they owned for about a year. Moving that often isn’t conducive to having measuring spot since you normally can’t take them with you.

A few years ago I put an addition onto the back end of the house. The new structure met the old structure at the measuring board. The measuring board is a record of both children. I carefully removed it and placed it is safe storage in the garage. It will remain there until one of the children gets a house and has children of their own. This piece of wood will be their house warming gift. Their children can then be measured against their parents.