Sometimes change can feel too slow when you are young, and it can be reassuring to know how much you are growing and maturing.
Steps
Step 1. Find a place to use as a landmark
It has to be somewhere you can go back to see the changes, commonly a door or wall in a room, but it can be anywhere there is a flat vertical surface.
Step 2. Stand without shoes and with your back flat against the surface, and hold a book or other square or rectangular object with one side flat on the surface behind you
Step 3. Slide the book down until it touches your head, and, holding it, turn over and mark the bottom edge of the book
This will give you the exact height of the top of your head.
Step 4. Mark this point
If you are able to leave a permanent mark, all you have to do is come back at reasonable intervals, say once a month, and repeat this process. Many people mark a point to have their children do it, and write their name and date next to each sign.
Step 5. Measure with a ruler or tape measure if you can't leave a permanent mark to return to, or if you could move and not return
Step 6. Write the measurement and date in a diary, journal, or other place that you can double check to track your journey to the top
Advice
- Have someone else help you take the measurements if you can, it will be easier and may be more accurate.
- Make sure you measure your height at the same time when you wake up every day. Your spine expands when you are lying down, and compresses as the day goes by and you stand on your feet. You can actually be an inch taller in the morning than in the evening. So, if one day you wake up at 6 and the other at 7, measure one hour after you wake up, or at another time of your choice as long as it is the same time after you wake up the previous day.
- Check the size of your clothes. Noticing the hem of a pair of pants touching the floor when they were just bought and now not even reaching your ankles is a sure sign that you are growing in height. But it's also possible that someone is doing the wrong laundry and shrinking.
- Don't get obsessed with height. You can do very little to accelerate growth, and some of us grow very little, only to then have sudden growth in a short period of time.
- Grab some old clothes from last year or even a few months ago and try them on to see how they fit compared to before. Those pants too long? They are perfect now! You are growing up!
- It is good to walk barefoot. Strengthens your feet for better support.
- Measure accurately, with your body always in the same position. You may not notice many changes, so an accurate measurement will ensure you are more accurate.
- If you are particularly concerned about your height, wear thick-soled shoes, and try not to get too close to very tall people.
