Tall Dogs/Small Dogs

When my youngest, the "Dread" was born, he was 24 ½ inches long. From the beginning, he favoured his Da’s physical stature but his mother’s colouring. It made parenting him a bit more of a challenge as that he was well able to reach for trouble at younger age than most of his peer group and he lacked the cognitive reasoning ability that an older child had who was the same size.

By the time the first term ended in grade 1, I came to the realization that I would never have to worry about this child’s ability to make money. Dreadie had begged me to buy him a bag of 100 assorted sized marbles for a $1.49 at the corner variety store. A week later while I was sorting the laundry I discovered $15 in small change in pockets of his pants. Naturally, this lead to an episode of Good Mommy/Scarey Mommy/Bad Mommy. To cut to the chase, he was selling marbles to his classmates at an enormous profit. I let him keep the proceeds, but I did make him re-imburse me for his start-up capital. Personal experience tells me that there might be something to this study:

A boy's height in the first 12 months of his life can determine his job prospects and salary, the latest research suggests.

A study of more than 4,500 men showed that those who were taller than average by the time they were one year old earned more than their shorter counterparts 50 years later, irrespective of their family background. Growth after the first 12 months seemed to be much less important. A child who was 28in or less in height at the age of one was twice as likely to be doing manual work in adulthood compared to a boy who was more than 31½in in height at the same age.

But on further reflection, I am consigning this research to the dustbin of useless trivia, as my late husband stood at 7 ft, ¼ inches, well taller than average, but he died a very poor man.

(tipped off by Neale News)