As did most of my son’s friends, which is part of the reason I was worried about what his eventual height would be.
I’m probably a bit of an exception in that I never really had a growth spurt. I could wear most of the same clothes at 20 that I had at 12.
Honestly though, I really don’t get the big deal about height and worrying about it or having it affect someones self image. Perhaps those that are toward the ends of the bell curve(under 5’, over 6’4" or so), but that’s more because society looks differently at people that are that far outside the norm.
Let’s hope she didn’t smile at him, incase he thought she was smiling at his short stature, which could easily devastate him for life. Maybe next time advise her to wear dark glasses and don’t actually speak.
Meanwhile, Ronnie Corbett, the British comedian, is only 5 foot 1inch tall and has spent his whole life joking about his height.
My eldest has just reached 6’5 and is a very shy and quiet HS kid. He doesn’t like to stand out…but he can’t help it. He’s been stuck wearing mens sizes for a while. I can’t count the times people have made the basketball crack.
No one comes up to ask him about his straight As or academic awards.
What he’s learned:
Have a thick skin at first; shallow people go away & the good ones will take the time to get to know you.
You and I do have something in common: great kids. They got that way despite our helicopter instincts. Now… if only we can learn to be less protective. 
I absolutely make it a point never to make any jokes about tall or short people… they’ve heard them all a million times before and they can be hurtful.
But it sounds like the lady was just giving her honest opinion of how cute and adorable your son is. Nothing wrong with that to me.
If the OP’s son was in the kindegarten, I don’t think his criticism would be fair. But the kid is a teenaged boy. There really aren’t very many teenaged boys who would want anyone to call them a “cute little” anything. I don’t think girls would want to hear this either, but especially a boy.
No matter what you do all of us will forever meet people in life who will say the wrong thing, accidentally or on purpose. The very best any of us can do is educate our children into understanding that what people say, whether they mean it or not, doesn’t really matter to our well being.
If you can achieve this then your child is immunized to a great amount of grief that life will throw at them.
Regarding the voodoo-at-2 age formula: my mom told me all my young life that she’d done this and that I would also be 5-2 as an adult. Indeed, my father wasn’t terribly tall, and all his sisters are around 5-feet, so I accepted this as my lot.
Well, I’m 5-9. 
People need to consciously not spit out the first thing that enters their mind. For example, I’m always drawn to cute babies at the grocery store or whatever, but I always make a point of speaking to an older sibling that might be nearby first. They often feel left out when a new baby arrives, so I say something along the lines of, “you must be a big help to your mother. Being a big sister/brother is an important job!”
I have experienced less overt demeaning treatment, etc., than I lot of women, I think because of my height. I’m roughly the height of most men, though of course many are vastly taller.
And just as a data point for short men out there — not all women consider short men a turnoff! I dated a couple guys shorter than me, and my first husband was about an inch shorter! I don’t have a fetish or anything; my current husband is 6-0. 
[quote=“SlackerInc, post:36, topic:690087”]
<snip>
He does have a sweet and polite personality, to strangers at least (LOL). But I’m not sure how to take your last sentence. I did say right from the get-go that she was “well-intentioned”, right? So how did I interpret it vs. what she meant? I just think that even if women of a “certain age” (and yes, this woman was probably just about old enough to be a grandmother, or almost anyway–early fifties would be my best guess) call young people “cute” or “adorable”, we have to keep in mind that she also added “little”: “cute little guy”. She was talking about him like he was a newborn puppy or something. Well-intentioned *and *thoughtless: I still think both descriptors fit.
I think what I was attempting (clumsily)to say was that it may have been more of a factor of the woman being impressed by your son’s disposition and said the first thing that popped into her head (not always advisable :p). If I were to make a comment about a cutie-patootie or some such, it would be irrespective of the yourng person’s physical size. Although I wouldn’t use little for a stranger, I speak of my little brother (6’6" and close to 50 years old), my little nieces and nephews (ranging from 11-42 years old and most are taller than I am) for family. Age or age relevant to my own is more of a factor.
I was extremely small well into high school and everyone assumed I was much younger. When I got my first drivers license at 16, I was 5’2" and 85lbs and looked like a little kid. I rode a motorcycle and not always with a helmet. I was pulled over several times because they wanted to know why the little kid was riding on the street. I finally started to grow after I was 17 and by the time I was 19 I was 6’4" and 135 lbs. A walking skeleton. You ever try to buy pants with a 29" waist and 36" inseam? So I got to see the jokes from both being short AND being tall. Also for being so freaking skinny. Eventually I got to around 185 lbs and that’s where I’ve stayed so I finally look normal. Only took three decades to get there. I think I turned out OK so your son should be good.
I’m 5’6 my son is 5’3. I don’t think either of us have ever had a problem with it. Most people guess we are taller though, I guess we carry ourselves “tall”.
Looking at your pictures, I could see how someone could be moved to erupt with a well meaning compliment- those really are beautiful children. In the second picture, I know nothing about the size of sleds- but his bearing is that of an older kid, for sure.
I am guilty of recent size-related idiocy, myself. When I dropped my son off for his first day of summer camp on Monday, there was another kid milling about who was easily 5’4". I asked him if he was excited for school to be out, what grade he had just finished, etc. He said second grade! I was astonished and I asked him if he had been the tallest kid in his class. He said “I don’t know. I don’t know anything about my class except that I HATE Malik and he better not show up here!!”
Thinking back on it later that day, I felt really bad for reducing someone to a difference- especially a little kid. I preach against that stuff all the time to my own kid, and then went and did it. I can’t even tell you why, other than that size is obvious and immediately recognized- and pointing out the obvious is something we do when talking with strangers ? I don’t know.
I’m sorry on behalf of all well-meaning morons. I remember comments people made to me when I was a kid to this day- ones that I am certain the person saying them put zero thought into.
Apparently one of my Great aunts managed to be both huge and tiny the other way- she hit 5’ at a very young age, something like 7 or 8, and as her father was 6’6" everyone assumed she’d be a massive adult.
She grew maybe another half inch in the rest of her life.
Well, assuming she doesn’t finally have that growth spurt now in her 80s
I really don’t think being short is that much of a problem in finding a partner- it may well reduce your average number of girlfriends, sure- especially when you’re young- but when it gets serious personality is way the biggest factor.
There was a kid at my school who was a wrestler, and short, but with massive shoulders-- and he was really short, probably not quite five feet when he started as a freshman. But he always had a girlfriend, usually one a little taller than he was. I haven’t seen him since high school, but he probably got married.
In college, there was a guy at my Hillel who was really, really smart. He took his LSATs, and scored through the roof. He was about 5’4, and thin, but he was dating one of the prettiest women who also came to services regularly, and everyone figured they’d get married. She was probably 5’6. They both wanted all the same things in regard to raising children, and having a Jewish life, and were a very sweet couple.
You can’t assume the height is what women are looking for.
Sounds like my parents, except for the Filipina part. Dad’s 6’3" (or used to be, before he got old and his Parkinson’s stooped him over) and Mom’s 4’11".
My brother and I both topped out at 6’1"- he may be 1/4" taller than me, but I’m not sure.
Well, aren’t you sweet! Thanks 
Several people are pooh-poohing the idea that being short is a hindrance for straight men. I just don’t think the facts are on their side, unfortunately. A couple cites:
Late growth is more common than you might think, especially with Scandinavian genes. I was 4’11" in 7th grade and 5’9" at graduation at 17. My father grew 12 inches in college. I’ve dated men who were a lot shorter…more interested in their brain than their height. I feel the same way about hair on the head- its what’s IN the head, not what’s ON it. An acquaintance, who was not dwarfish but wasn’t average either, told me in the wild 70’s that when he was “nose to nose, his toes were in it, and toes to toes, his nose was in it” about his then partner, who was in Newport with the Aussie America’s Cup team:), and who was, as she put it, 5’13".
At 14, life is difficult no matter what. if you aren’t too short, your nose is too big.
I was somewhat small during most of middle school, but never small in the strict sense. In high school I was a gradual grower. Some reach their max height early, others towards the end. By 18 I was 5’10, two or three inches taller than my dad.
I agree with others, your height is not the end all and be all of the quality of life you or your child will have.
I have had people make “thoughtless remarks” or better yet ask a nearly offensive question about me to my mom. But mine was not due to height.
Instead when I was kid, up until two months before turning 14, my mom was asked by strangers if I was a boy or a girl? Many times I was standing right there, one time it was a woman who was taking our orders at a Chinese food place. My mom would always tell them I was a boy.
It was potentially offensive, but looking back I never cared nor did my mom.
People will sometimes be curious and ask questions and make remarks about your child, but its not the end of the world. It is only bad if the question or remark is made to intentionally insult your child, then feel free to put them in their place (not physically).
Yes I agree, really short men are at a disadvantage, but it does not mean they will die alone without a woman.
My sister refuses to date any man shorter than her in heels.