On Being Short

I've been thinking about being short lately. Probably because my middle daughter regularly laments her plight as one of the small girls in first grade. Or maybe it's because I have lived my whole life being short and I regularly encounter things I can't reach: shelves, light bulbs or the top of my brother-in-law's head.

Either way, while I was lying in bed at 5 am this morning, I realized that there are some distinct advantages to being short.

For instance, I sleep on my belly -- completely stretched out in my bed. Sometimes I hook my feet on the bottom of the mattress and stretch my arm far above my head and it rests on the top of the mattress. I have done this my whole life... well, as long as I have been long enough to reach both ends. It suddenly occurred to me this morning that not all people can do that. Then I realized that some people probably have to lay very strategically just so they don't bump their heads.

As I pondered this stroke of revelation, I heard my youngest daughter fussing. Why is it that even when I am fully awake, just hearing one of my kids wake up makes me feel very tired?