Now that I have several grandchildren I am finding it more difficult in keeping up with them, from their ages to their grades they are in at school and so on. However I do notice when one takes a growth jump. That is hard to miss and when you ask them if they have grown, that is followed by a big smile and an affirmative nod of the head. It is just human nature to like the fact that they are growing up and I guess that when we grow in height it’s the first thing noticed.
These days it is a regular visit to the pediatrician for a yearly checkup where the child is measured to see if any growth has occurred and if so how much. This is recorded and there is an official record kept. To be truthful I had never heard the word “” until we had our own children. Now old ways are and can be hard to drop and by the time our children were growing, we were still doing most of our own checkups at home along with annual checkups with their doctor.
When I was growing up, my parents would line us up at the door frame between the kitchen and the living room. There they would have us stand with our back to the frame and then take a pencil and make a mark at the top of our heads. This was followed by the use of a tape measure and in pencil, they would write our name and height along with the date. Here was our “permanent” record. (It was understood that no new paint be added to that doo rframe, at least where the marks were.) Of course, since I was the youngest and always behind in the growth race, I wanted to be measured to see just how much more I would need to catch up with my sister and brother.
It was safe to say if someone said it looked like I had grown some I would beg my Mom to measure me and mark the frame. I had not taken into thought that if I was growing, just maybe so were my siblings. This would be remembered when at the next measuring session, I would grow and so would Peg and Ben. Now that was frustrating and to a little boy it seemed unfair. With this in mind, just how was I to ever catch up with them? Note that it never really came to mind that I wanted to be taller than them. I just wanted to be their equal.
I am sure we were not the only family who measured at the door frame and mark it for posterity but it was always a fun event. Our home was a very old brick farmhouse built around 1860 and the kitchen was added later to the main part as the wall between the kitchen and the rest of the home was four layers of brick thick. This indicated the add-on though as the home was two layers thick everywhere else. Therefore, the door frame was an extra-wide door and I think we were measured there because there was extra space and when you came to visit us, you had to walk through this doorway to get to our living room. All who visited could see our height records and if they might not take notice, I am certain I just might have pointed them out, especially if I had grown a lot recently. I have to admit this was fun to do even if I was not catching up ,but I think it was just one more event that helped us to be doing something as a family.
As Peg and Ben reached adulthood the measuring event ceased and Ben won, making it to 6’ 1” and Peg making it too a little over 5’’8”, and I maybe reaching the same height as Peg. (Remained debatable with us.) The thing was if we wanted to double check a stat all we had to do was go to the door frame and check.
Moving forward to the next generation my wife made certain our daughter and son would stand with their backs to the door frame of my daughter’s bedroom door and have a pencil mark made above their heads and add the name and date along with the new height. The kids were eager to do this as this growth it emphasized their growth within. I think the bigger you measured the more you were to be taken serious. As we grew, the more we wanted to be acknowledged.
My sister Peg was teaching at a school up near Dayton named Beavercreek and at a PTA bazaar she saw a craft she just felt we would use. It was a board that had been refinished and decorated with a clown on it and some balloons on the front. Peg said it was a measuring board and instead of using a door frame this would take its place. Well my kids liked this as it was given to us to be used for them. Therefore, from 1984 forward, they were measured with this board and this became their permanent record. I know this for a fact because we still have the board stored away. (You cannot just throw away medical records you know.)
I don’t know about children being recorded at home these days but you can be sure it is recorded somewhere. I guess the measuring board taking the door frame’s place was just one of the signs of the progress that happens around us all of the time. One thing for sure was when it was marked on the door frame it became a public record and that is a fact.
Rick Houser grew up on a farm near Moscow in Clermont County and loves to share stories about his youth and other topics. If you might want to read more of his writing, he has two books for sale. Just contact him at houser734@yahoo.com. Or write to him at P.O. Box 213 Bethel, Ohio 45106.
