Not Average Just Human

Now before anyone points out the obvious, I know you should always be careful when discussing charts that are produced by the establishment when looking at your wee ones development, The charts themselves should come with a full blown health warning!

However I must confess that I occasionally look them up just to see if I am getting things right or drastically wrong!
The wee one has always been classed as a unique individual as far as I am concerned and although I check the charts and the guidelines I treat them normally as just that, guidelines, not accurate measurements that must be followed or else!
The wee one like all wee ones does certain things that are way ahead of her time and of course the opposite applies on other issues and tasks where she is a wee bit behind. This is something that has never phased me as all children do things at their own pace, if they were all the same they would be....well robots!
So as I looked down the height and weight chart it was with no real concern until I released that for one thing she was above average height, no problem there, however her weight was well below average and given that she was taller than the average weight chart was describing did give me a moment where more research would be required!

Now many of you reading this are now thinking give the wee one more on her plate, problem solved.
The answer is much simpler though and the research was just about some reassurance on my part, the word average is the key, I had fallen into the trap of ignoring the health warning that should come with all medical charts that use the word. No child is average even if they match the chart inch by inch, pound by pound. The average child, should you ever meet one, would be whisked off to a laboratory somewhere for extensive testing to see if it was indeed real.
The lesson should have been staring me in the face as an adult, that the word average applies to in no aspect of my life, from weight, height or the fact that I am a stay at home granddad.

Although we are all 'Jock Tamsons Bairns' we are all different, thank goodness because life would be rather boring if not.
As if to back up my argument about charts and averages not applying, and that we are all unique, with peoples eyes telling them a different story to the person standing beside them about what they see in a person, you know what I mean, one persons fat is another's well built or solid. The other day the law enforcer aka the wife and I went to the petrol station to fill up both cars, the law enforcer went into pay and the attendant said to her how nice it was of her to pay for her sons petrol!!

Now not only did I get a good laugh out of this and indeed still am, I relised that everyone has their own take on what they see, although this lady showed remarkably good taste and is an excellent judge of looks it has to be put into perspective, if we were all average and all looked the same, what would the conversation have been about in the petrol station and not only that the chance to smile and have some serious fun at the expense of the law enforcer aka the wife would have been lost!
So forget charts and averages, forget targets and goals for our wee people, just remember happiness, safety and love as they are the real measurements for any wee one to progress and become a non average adult in a non average world!