something from the "you learn something new each day" files

Just as I was 25 before I learned the official name for my lack of smelling ability, I was 33 before I learned the official name for my favorite sitting position.

See, all my life, I’ve had a very particular way of sitting on the floor with my legs splayed—a way that always elicits exclamations of “How can you bear to sit like that?!”—and I only just learned that it has an actual name: W-sitting. Who knew!

Me W-sitting as a toddler.

The reason I looked it up online last week and found out the name is because recently I’ve noticed that Olivia does it a lot when she’s playing on the floor. Neither of her parents ever sat this way, and no one in either of their families (aside from me) sat this way.

Olivia W-sitting during Christmas 2006.

And again in October 2007.

Also, a few years ago, I noticed Heather’s daughter Elizabeth sitting this way, and when I commented on it, Heather told me that her brother Justin and sister Whitney have always preferred sitting that way, too, and when their mom spoke to their doctor about it, she was told that some specialists believe it’s a sign of creativity, artistic temperament, and giftedness. Well, Elizabeth, Justin, and Whitney are, in fact, all very creative, artistic, and gifted. So I thought, “Oh wow, if that’s true, that’s really cool, because that’s my favorite way of sitting.” And when I saw Olivia doing it over and over, I thought it was a good thing. But all the research I’m finding is actually saying it’s a bad thing! It supposedly causes pigeon-toeing, hip dysplasia, and a host of other orthopedic difficulties. None of them affect Justin, Whitney, Elizabeth, or me. (But some doctors also say that W-sitting can eventually lead to loose kneecaps or early hip arthritis, so it’s possible that its toll on us has yet to be seen.)

Apparently W-sitting isn’t overly uncommon among toddlers,** but most outgrow it by age five. I never outgrew it, though, and I don’t think Justin, Whitney, and Elizabeth did, either.

Sadly, I haven’t found a single shred of evidence hinting toward a correlation between W-sitting and giftedness, but of course I’ll keep pathetically looking!

**I have learned that two friends of mine (Angela and Skevy) also used to W-sit as children. However, their teachers/dance instructors scared them into stopping it by filling their heads with horror stories about what would happen to their legs if they didn’t learn to sit properly.

song heard most recently before posting:
Let’s Dance—M. Ward