Take Your Marks!

The inside of my friend’s kitchen pantry door is covered with pencil and ink marks. But these marks will never be washed off or painted over. They are a three-generation record of her family’s growth.

A favorite activity at family gatherings is for younger members to “make their mark” on the door and then compare their height to that of aunts, uncles, and cousins at the same ages.

We move too frequently to have a “measuring door,” but, inspired by my friend’s tradition, we have a portable “measuring board.” It is a wide piece of molding, painted white and cut to clear our baseboard. Whenever we move into a new home, we tack the board upright to a wall, measuring carefully to make sure the bottom edge of the board is the same distance from the floor as it was in its previous location.

Each family member’s height (including Mom’s and Dad’s) is recorded on his or her birthday. Even our exchange student was measured on her birthday. The children love to compare their current height to the previous year’s mark—and to the same-age marks of older siblings. But best of all, when we move, our board goes with us.—Kathleen P. Whitworth, Ferndale, Washington