I’ve got a little unknown fact for you: December 21st is the shortest day of the year. Why am I telling you this? Because it is also National Short Girl Appreciation Day.
So for all of us that are 5’5” and shorter, that is our day! And while our petite stature can be pretty adorable, it can also lend it’s own set of struggles.
As a “fun size” mom myself, I’ve rounded up my top 10 list of Short Mom Probs right here:
1. Shopping for Pants
Finding the right jeans length is nearly impossible. We don’t even shop in a store if they don’t have petite sizes. Or we know someone who does a killer job of hemming. If we’re really lucky, we’ve have gotten skilled at rolling up the ends of our jeans in a (hopefully) fashionable way. And capris? Ha! It usually just looks like we are wearing high waters instead.
2. Kitchen Cabinets
It’s not unusual to jump onto our kitchen countertop to get things out of the higher (or normal height) cabinets. Oh, and that tiny little cabinet above the refrigerator in the kitchen? We. Will. Never. Reach. It. You could seriously hide anything in there.
3. Drive-Thrus
It’s a given that we will be rolling down our window, opening our car door and sliding over in our seat at any drive-through ATM in order to reach the buttons. Drive-thrus are not made for the diminutive.
4. Grocery Shopping
We can’t reach the items placed on the higher shelves in the store. This means 1 of 3 things: 1) We will be asking a stranger to reach something for us, 2) We’ve brought someone taller with us to help out, or 3) We will be doing some climbing and reaching, which usually includes scaling up a lower shelf or two in order to obtain our needed item with the tips of our fingers.
5. Group Pictures
We are in the front row every time. There’s no hiding behind someone else if we’re not loving our look that day. And we generally make our taller friends or family members look a little like giants in the photo.
6. Swimming Pools
We may be a great swimmer, but if you want to just stand around in the pool and talk, the shallow end is where you’ll find us. Please join us there so our head will be above water.
7. Tall Chairs or Deep Couches
We feel like a little kid when our feet don’t touch the floor when we sit down. We will probably want to swing our feet because of this fact. We also love that little bar that goes across the chair near the bottom, because it’s a perfect foot rest for us.
8. Driving
Visors in the car will never help shade the sun for us. Sunglasses are a must, but even then, driving into the glaring sun is inevitable during certain times of the day. Also, in order to reach the pedals, our seat is so close to the steering wheel that we may have to move it back in order to just get out of the car. For reals.
9. Washing Machines
There’s a bit of gymnastics involved when we are reaching into the washing machine for that one last sock. We hoist ourselves up on our waist like we’re on the uneven parallel bars, and with our feet not touching the ground, we reach over and grab that last bit of laundry that is sticking to the bottom of the barrel. We balance there for a minute, holding tightly to the laundry, before launching our feet back to the floor in a dismount.
10. Cribs
Finding a crib that we can actually reach over is a big deal, y’all. You know that mom moment when your child is sleeping on you and you have to lay them down while magically removing your arm in a way that they won’t feel it or else they’ll wake up? We have to do that on our tip-toes. Whoever decided that drop-side cribs weren’t safe anymore was probably taller than us.
To those TALLER MOMS out there, we love and appreciate you, and know you have our own set of problems associated with your height. We hope you have your own day to celebrate. In fact, we short moms want to hug it out with you tall moms!
But then it just gets awkward when we’re staring at your belly button.