A mother of 15 month old twins shares her thoughts, "I worry that my children will always be smaller than other children their age and I also worry what others say to them. It hurts me to have to explain to everyone who asks, "How old are they?'' "Why they are soooo small?" I hate the questions or the look as if I am not feeding my children enough."

If your child has developmental issues or other impacts related to prematurity, your anxiety can be heightened even more.

Laura, the mother of a two year old with mild physical disabilities and feeding disorder, shares her experience, "Overall, my concerns are not about how big he is or how big he'll be, but more about how healthy he is and will be. I am very concerned about his nutrition and related development. I hold my breath every time he gets on the doctor's scale. It seems to be the ultimate test of my worthiness as a parent."

Sometimes your older child will be teased for their size (as happened to in summer camp to our son, just as I started this article). But we also find out that our children can compensate in amazing ways, given a base of confidence and support.

Janet, the mother of a preemie son who is now 9 years old, describes the concerns she used to have over her son’s size, "Being the smallest in class (I was the smallest, too -- so I know how it affected me) usually brings some kidding such as "How's the weather down there?" or nicknames such as Peanut and Half-Pint. I think small size is even worse for boys, because the bully types (who are usually much bigger) tend to pick on the smaller ones. Also, sports is very important for most boys, and the smaller boys usually aren't as physically developed as the larger ones -- resulting in fewer opportunities to play or excel in a lot of sports, even on Little League teams."

But as her son as grown, Janet finds that he has been able to compensate and adapt to his situation, "He really does "stand up" for himself quite well and did finally earn some respect in P.E. last year in third grade when he consistently won jump rope contests and a long-distance run. While bigger boys have more size and muscle for the "hero" sports such as baseball and football, his compact size and aerobic ability gave him the advantage."

In closing, Laura's words apply to many of us, "As for ‘my son’ and his future, he's come a long way, so I don't think he'd let a "little" thing like size ever hold him back from doing what he plans on doing."