My kids are little people, and are starting to discover what that means.

After the visit with their family, we took Sunny and Sprout to a Buffalo Bisons baseball game with the Finger Lakes NY Chapter of Little People of America.

The chapter does regular events. We missed the last event because one of the girls was sick, but finally on Saturday we got to go!

There were 27 folks in total in our group, a mix of little people and average size folks who were family members. Lots of the little people are kids. It’s an incredibly nice group. When we left, Seth and I remarked that we couldn’t remember an evening where we felt so surrounded by people who seem kind and just plain likable. I can’t wait to do more events with them!

I think the magnitude of the experience of being with other little people was lost on Sprout, as she’s only five, and it was in the evening after a long day.

But Sunny? She got it. She didn’t just get it, though, she freaking loved it. At one point she loudly announced the following:

“Mommy! Mommy! There are even Black little people! They have brown skin like me! I LOVE SMALL PEOPLE.”

-Sunny

Her exclamation was met with chuckles from the little people surrounding us, and one person laughingly said “well you’ve come to the right place!”

The girls had protested vociferously that they didn’t want to leave their family and go to the game. Then they whined about the food options. Then they complained baseball is boring because it doesn’t move fast enough. And I watched my hometown baseball team get slaughtered by the Bisons.

None of that mattered in the end, though. Sunny thanked us afterward for taking her because she loved being surrounded by people like her. She mentioned something similar again this morning. That was her takeaway and I’m insanely glad. She struggles to accept her stature and this was so enlightening for her: she’s not alone. Not only that, but she announced a couple of times that “little people are cute!” She hasn’t quite translated that to the understanding that the same applies to her, but I think the more we can get her involved in LPA events, the more she’ll get it.

Speaking of “cute,” though, my youngest gets so sick of being called it. Everywhere she goes people treat her like an object more than a person. Don’t call her a “doll” or you’ll feel her wrath! Even my sister commented that it’s annoying when she briefly accompanied Sprout around an Ulta store looking for hair accessories and lip balm. It doesn’t help that Sprout’s Asian, which somehow makes it even easier to “other” her. But people seem inclined to touch her when they meet her, and exclaim repeatedly about how adorable and little she is. It’s going to be a lifelong curse for her I’m afraid. I wish folks would see the feisty fashionista as much as they see the “cute” little Asian person though.

Anyway, next year we plan to take the kids to the LPA annual conference in Baltimore. That’s going to blow Sunny’s mind! I cannot wait. Maybe by then Sprout will be able to understand the significance of being surrounded by folks who are like her, some of whom also hate being called “cute,” too.

Finally, we have a new book! We’ve only got two other books about little people and more are needed. I just picked up this gem the other day:

If you’re not familiar with Pete Montzingo from Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, check him out. He’s absolutely hilarious. But he’s an average size person who was raised in a family of little people, and that’s what this book is about. He shares the challenges of being “different” from his loved ones, growing up with ADHD, and having his parents divorce. He also shares his journey of coming into his own through music and just growing up. It’s a beautiful little book for any family, but especially one with a kid who feels “different” from the rest of the family for any reason.