A remarkable six-foot-tall man has revealed what it was like to grow up in a family with parents and siblings who are all dwarfs.
Peet Montzingo, a native of Los Angeles, California, embodies the ideal of what a person “should look like,” yet because of his slightly above-average height, he frequently felt alienated from his family.
Peet spent his youth witnessing his parents, Vicki and Darrell, and siblings, Jennifer and Andrew, being harassed and photographed by strangers. Dwarfism is classified as an adult height of four feet ten inches or less.
The six-foot-tall man even occasionally wished he were a “dwarf” so he wouldn’t have to feel so bad about fitting in.
The Dwarf Family.
In an interview with Today, Peet described what it was like growing up in a household of short people.
He said he was “always ready to fight someone,” adding that he always “hated” when people gawked at his family.
As a little kid, Vicki claims that Peet used to frequently remark, “Mom, I wish I was a dwarf.”
He looked as a human should, according to society, but felt out of place at home, she said.
And because of Peet’s height, his connection with his brother Andrew, a third-grade teacher from South Carolina, was hard growing up.
Due to respiratory issues and spine procedures, Andrew, who has a rare form of dwarfism, spent numerous days in and out of the hospital. Peet acknowledged that, as a result, he frequently felt envious of the attention paid to his brother.
Similar to Andrew, Peet was disliked for his height, good health, and propensity for athletics.
Because I enjoy athletics, there was some jealousy, according to Andrew. He was the youngster out in left field picking daisies when we were playing little league together.
“Peet, you have the ideal build, and you’re not even using it,” I exclaimed. Exchange bodies with me.
However, as they became older, Andrew started to realize that Peet had problems too.
Due to their height, the family members who have dwarfism were not permitted to ride on all the rides when the family visited amusement parks, and Peet felt awful riding alone.
Peet also took his family’s treatment quite personally.
‘I definitely sensed anger and sadness from him when we were younger,.
‘The pointing, the stares and the name calling — the name calling really got to him,’ Andrew explained.
Andrew and Peet have reunited, and Peet now spends his time generating material for his TikTok account, where he advocates for people with dwarfism.
Peet – who boasts 12.7 million followers on the video-sharing platform – tends to joke about being the ‘real life Buddy the Elf.’
He told Today: ‘I feel like I’ve finally found my place in the world. I’m educating people about differences. I get so many messages that are like, “You’ve changed my perspective, thank you for opening my eyes.”‘
Last year, Peet published a children’s book titled ‘Little Imperfections: A Tall Tale of Growing Up Different.’
Vicki expressed her pride in her kid and delights in the fact that he is changing the way the world perceives those suffering from dwarfism.
‘We may look different, and we may move differently, but inside we’re all the same,’ she said.
