The Tilt of the Book

With Connor's crazy growth spurt the past year or two, we have gotten quite used to our back-to-back height challenges in the family. It started back when Connor was 12 and we noticed that he was inching up on Mom. He surpassed me in height well before his 13th birthday, but he kept growing and growing. By the time he reached age 14, he was wearing the same adult sized clothing as Jeff and had far exceeded Jeff's shoe size. We knew it was only a matter of time before he caught up to Jeff's height, and we kept checking it every now and then to see how close he was. Of course, even when they are standing back to back, it's always hard to tell who has the advantage. Jeff's tried and true method of determining height difference is to grab a flat surface and place it on top of their heads while they're standing back to back. That's where the book comes in. By placing the book on the tops of their heads, we can stand back and take a look at the tilt of the book. If there is indeed a tilt, then clearly there is a height difference on one side or the other. We've done many of these challenges over the past year, and a close examination of the tilt of the book is always needed to determine the winner. Jeff has had the advantage time after time, no matter how optimistic Connor may have been. 

As Connor kept inching up, Jeff noticed that he was meeting him at eye level when they were standing next to each other. We pulled out a big cutting board one time, and it sure seemed like that tilt had completely leveled out.

Until one day, November 12th to be exact, we pulled out the book again. This time, there was definitely a tilt, and for the very first time that tilt was pointing in the opposite direction! I had to get photographic evidence to finally convince Jeff of the hard fact that now HE was the shortest male member of his own family. The tilt of the book never lies!!