As a mother of boys and friend of many mothers of boys, I've heard about mysterious growth spurts and I've been bracing myself for years, especially in the land of small portions and expensive meat.
But now I finally find myself in the front seat watching my 14 y.o. grow, it is an amazing thing. Just a month ago he weighed in at about 118 pounds. Yesterday he weighed 122.3 pounds (a change of nearly 2 kg).* He's also now 5'6" about an inch taller when he had his medical in August. No wonder he's eating so much. Not only is he growing, but he's running for an hour or two six-times a week and starting to work out in the school weight room once or twice a week also.
Food-wise I'm doubling or tripling my recipes and making sure there are lots of veggies and carbs available. Fill them up on healthy things and they'll be less likely to need snacks, that's always been my philosophy. It's still working. He's not roaming around asking for food at odd times, nor raiding the kitchen without permission. I've also discovered it is a great age for introducing new dishes to the menu. Last night I cooked a Spicy Lentil dish. Only a couple of years ago he would probably have rejected that, but last night it was gobbled up. I amazed as it was quite different to the sort of food I usually serve up. (His younger brothers were less enthusiastic, but they persevered and didn't complain bitterly as I'd expected.)
*The exact "pounds" is especially important to him because it is how they determine who wrestles who in wrestling. In most of the tournaments here, the school can only have one wrestler per weight-class, so weight is very important. Consequently the wrestlers are talking about weight. Our son's just moved into the weight-class of CAJ's top wrestler last year, and who is a senior this year. It will be interesting to see what happens. If this growth continues, he could put on several more pounds before the first wrestling meet in early December.
I am intrigued that you give the measurements in inches and pounds.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the 70s, my parents spoke in imperial measurements with only a little bit of metric. I weighed myself in stones until I left home. Now I live in a culture that only uses metric and my family works and studies in an environment that uses both.
ReplyDeleteHence, I'm fairly bilingual in the two different systems. The pounds is something a bit new because of the wrestler in our house. That is what they use, so I'm just hanging with the crowd.
I thought it might have something to do with you living in what is basically an American colony. I wondered if you were aware that the Imperial measurement system is not quite the same as the American "Customary" measurement system.
ReplyDeleteAt least you didn't mention ounces. Whatever they are.
Ken, I have to deny that we live in an American colony. All our neighbours are Japanese, we shop in local Japanese shops, attend a Japanese-led church. Yes, a lot of our family spends a lot of time at the school, but our life context is much more Japanese than you might think.
ReplyDeleteParticularly as compared to the Base schools that we rub up against at interschool comps. They're definitely American colonies, you sometimes wonder how much they know about the country they live in, or if they're basically like tourists who visit periodically!