Growing pains are the uncomfortable or difficult experiences that come with getting bigger, better, or more capable, whether you're talking about a person, an organization, or even a friendship.

The term originally described the mysterious aches that children sometimes feel in their legs at night as their bodies grow. Doctors aren't entirely sure what causes these pains, but they happen most often during growth spurts, when kids are shooting up in height.

More broadly, growing pains describe the awkward, challenging adjustments that happen during any kind of growth or improvement. When a small company hires more employees, it might experience growing pains as it figures out how to organize more people. When you move from elementary school to middle school, the confusion and adjustment period could be called growing pains. A basketball team adding new players might struggle at first with growing pains before everyone learns to work together.

The phrase captures something important: progress can feel uncomfortable while it's happening. A restaurant that becomes suddenly popular might struggle with long wait times and stressed staff. A friendship deepening into something closer might go through awkward moments as both people figure out new boundaries. These difficulties aren't signs of failure. They're normal parts of becoming something more than you were before. The pain eventually fades, but the growth remains.