When I was a preteen in Canada I was taken to an endocrinologist to make sure it “wasn’t something bad”. This meant a two hour trip into Calgary about once a month. One of the doctors recommended my growth be halted, fortunately my parents objected. It turns out stunting growth, besides being just plain silly, is medically dangerous and there is very little effect – 2 to 4 cm maximum – as if that would make a difference. There is an excellent book that goes into people to try to change their child’s growth. “Normal at any Cost” by Susan Cohen and Christine Cosgrove. It turns out it (particularly increasing the height of short boys) is a big business and the book is an window into medical ethics.

I’m in the camp that my height isn’t a big deal. I honestly don’t really think about it very much and neither do my friends. If someone gives me a hard time I know they are someone I may not want to associated with. There are some issues getting clothing and a few other things that fit, but that is a small price to pay. Mostly it is something I’m proud of and my friends seem to be proud of knowing me as well.

The best book I’ve seen for helping late preteens and teens feel good about themselves. It is written by someone who is different for kids with *any* differences – height being just one possibility. John Schwartz is a science and legal writer for the NY times and wrote “Short: Walking Tall When You’re Not Tall at All” – although it is written from the point of view of a short male teen, it is applicable to anyone. I would recommend it way before Arianne’s book.

The most aggravating thing in this line didn’t actually involve a head injury, but an obstruction. I was in the process of taking a stress test – walking on the treadmill. As you know, the more you walk, the higher the treadmill gets. Some short person (obviously) had carefully placed the &@#*^#^!! thing below a fire sprinkler. By the time I started getting up there a ways, I was having to walk more and more bent over.
I finally told the doctor, “I give up.” “Had enough?” he asked. “I could walk a long time more, but I’ve had enough of walking bent in half.”

When you require to amount up your outfits taste, skirts from karen millen are definitely wonderful choices….

Ben
LongTieStore.com

http://www.threadless.com/product/1601/I_m_Like_a_Bird/tab,girls?from=scrandall

I’m a huge fan of threadless tees and one of the designs is *made* for tall and happy women! It really shows how I feel about my height

I’m tall too, but I’m “only” 5’10”/5’11′ though

This also effects my dating. I don’t use height as a primary requirement as I would be excluding way too many guys who have good qualities. At the same time if a guy is a head shorter(or taller!) it is going to be a real problem as conversations when we’re both standing can be awkward.

So talking to your doctor makes sense and even getting a careful measurement and checkout your posture in a mirror. You’re probably about what you have been years ago.

The Dutch growth all came after WWII. There is a very interesting New Yorker article on the subject: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/04/05/040405fa_fact

Biking is a lifestyle and is encouraged. I don’t have a car and don’t want one. I have a commuter bike that is used in the snow and rain and a very nice touring bike for beautiful Sunday rides. In my town over 50% of the population rides a bike or walks to work and it shows. Danish women have the best butts and legs in the world:-) The guys are pretty impressive too. I’m shocked when I visit the US and Canada to see how heavy and out of shape people are – especially kids.

Italy is a wonderful place and finding the local food in the little towns is something I could do for the rest of my life. There are little restaurants that raise almost all of their food on their property and some even do their own wine. I am in Milan now on business. The big cities are great, but the countryside is fantastic.

So I may not consider a 5’10 woman to be tall, but she may think about it more than me.

I run a new label, TallTallula.com, that aims to provide tall women with fashionable clothing that fits. You can visit my website at http://www.talltallula.com

My first range is a classic “mix and match” work wear collection, and I have already begun on the next collection, which includes dresses and casual wear.

Tall Tallula is a label that will endeavour to follow the needs of its clients and your feedback on future styles and garments is welcome.

From small beginnings we hope to grow to become a “go to” label for tall women everywhere.

The frustration of finding garments you would love to buy, but never fit, is a thing of the past.

Regards,
Fiona

I run a new label, TallTallula.com, that aims to provide tall women with fashionable clothing that fits. You can visit my website at .

Regards,
Fiona

My close friends don’t think about size and the social group I have the most fun with is a swing dance club. I’ll probably be moving inside of a year and then I’ll check out the tall club where I go..

At this point in my life I’m way too busy with my career to be too serious – I travel a lot. I found not being serious about it decreases the pressure to find someone enough that I have a much better time and had some nice dates for awhile. Your grandmother’s advice is good:-)

thanks for your stories!

Now when I fly, I usually fly American Airlines. This is mainly because its one of the few airlines we have to choose from when flying for work. So far, I have not had an issue obtaining a bulk head or exit row seat. The secret catch to this is that I signed up a while back for the American Airlines Advantage program. This is more dedicated towards frequent flyer miles and such, but I do not fly enough to receive any benefits from miles. The benefit of the advantage program is that the day of my flight I can go online and reserve myself an exit row or bulk head seat. The advantage program is free too, its just a way to accumulate points and see/change your flight info.

In the past when I would fly, sitting in a bulk head or exit row seat usually meant waiting until you got to the air port so you can argue with whoever is at the ticket counter for your seat. As far as I am aware, most airlines do not allow the exit row seats to be reserved until the day of the flight. Having the ability to choose one of those seats as early as possible the day of your flight sure beats arguing with the airlines when you get to the airport.

After all that, it may sound like I am pro American Airlines. Honestly, if I had a choice I would probably choose another airlines. I have good experiences with Frontier Airlines. They were easy to deal with when it came to my tallness. They also have TV’s for every seat which is a nice bonus. I have also heard great things about Jet Blue and Southwest. I have yet to fly either but will gladly try them when I fly for pleasure and not business.

Of course doing a cartwheel for the clerk would be a nice thing:-)

A very good resource is http://www.seatguru.com , which will tell you about the seats on a particular flight and let you look at the differences. The European economy airlines for short flights are not good, so it is great you are using the train!

A friend of mine is two meters tall. She doesn’t have a lot of money, so buying extra legroom is a hardship, but almost a necessity. If an airline doesn’t charge for it she is always able to get a gate attendant to find a volunteer to switch, but that doesn’t work if people have paid. She told me about a flight across the US where she was crunched into a small seat and then tried to stand in the aisle whenever she could, but the headroom wasn’t enough for her to really stand up.

and from the article sounds like an amazing person, I say good luck and i cant wait to see you face off against the viper!

I have gotten into alterations and an older woman in my neighborhood considers me her special project and helps. She turns out to be really good at it and I am nearly fashionable:-)