puberty

So, I Guess This Is Growing Up: The Growth Spurt

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Time is a thief, and nothing proves it more than realizing the tiny child who once tugged at your pant leg is suddenly standing at eye level. This isn’t the usual “they grow up so fast” sentiment. They are literally growing up fast and outgrowing everything they own.

Growth spurts are short, intense bursts of height and weight gain that happen throughout childhood. Every kid goes through them, but they’re often far more dramatic than parents expect. From the sudden appetite jumps, to the extra sleep, to the highwater pants, these spikes in growth are completely normal.

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Child(ish) Reads: This is So Awkward

| Patti Webb

It’s now October and we usually try to work in our fun, tongue-in-cheek tone throughout for Halloween. The book I picked out for today was an Advance Reader I got from NetGalley (again, tragically late for a review), and as Mary and I started talking about it, it became a little…scary.

This Is So Awkward: Modern Puberty Explained by Cara Natterson MD and Vanessa Kroll Bennett.

Here’s the blurb: Almost everything about puberty has changed since today’s adults went through it. It starts, on average, two years earlier and stretches through high school . . . and for some, beyond. Gens Z and Alpha are also contending with a whole host of thorny issues that parents didn’t experience in their own youth but nonetheless need to understand: everything from social media and easy-access pornography to gender identities and new or newly-potent drugs. Talking about any of this is like puberty itself: Awkward! But it’s also critical for the health, happiness, and safety of today’s kids.

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