September 23, 2010

An Alien In My House

As all my regular readers know, I have three children. Some of you would know this because you seen references to them in this blog. Most of you would know this because you are my parents.

My three children look ridiculously alike. The older two look like the male and female version of the same person, whereas the Toddler looks like both of them. When my husband and I realised we were incapable of producing any more combinations, we decided to stop having kids.

However, despite their peas-in-a-pod appearance, my children have completely different personalities. My son is intense, obsessive and extremely bright, my daughter is dreamy, laid back and cheery, and the Toddler is mad as a cut snake (to use the correct psychological term). Out of the three of them, my daughter is the easiest to be with, being thoughtful, caring, kind, generous, flexible and even tempered. In other words, in our family, she is an alien from outer space.

Of course, I'm sure my daughter is not really a space alien. In another family, she would probably fit in just fine; after all, there must be many other human beings who are even tempered and flexible. I just am not related to any of them. Neither is my husband.

In our family, our daughter is a complete standout. Never, in the long line of our family history, going back through the generations on both my and my husband's side, has there even been such a relaxed and happy child. In our family, people are highly strung. We get depressed and anxious. We worry a lot. We do not go around smiling and humming to ourselves whilst offering to share our toys. It is just not normal.

The weird thing, though, is that I don't take any credit for my daughter's personality. I take half responsibility for my son's (the other half is his father's) and total responsibility for the Toddler's (I mean, if there's anyone who can relate to the desire to dance wildly to songs in one's head wearing nothing but socks on one's hands, I can assure you it is me.) But with my daughter, I feel like I've just got lucky. Somehow, I was given more than my genes could reasonably be expected to create.

So what about you? Do you see yourself in your kids? Or do you see your parents in you?

(Speaking of which, you should meet my dad. But that's a whole other story....)

16 comments:

  1. Love your blog!!
    We are also of the "one for the country" brigade - 3 children....all girls. Living with our oldest is the equivalent of your conscience being manifested in flesh...moral compass fixed on true north! Our middle child is the Rockstar, gorgeous and wild! Our 3yr old is the TT (terrible toddler)...she is what happens when you close the factory but don't decommission the production line!!!!
    The oldest is a mini-me in terms of her physical appearance (also freaky) and the other two are like identical twins separated by five years!

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  2. Your blog is the best around. So much fun to read!
    I only have a 4 year old son. He's so much like my wife it is not funny! From his pale skin & light hair (we thought he was going to have olive skin & dark hair like me)to his stubborness when told what to do (once left alone he does it in his own time & pace) etc etc.

    Great post! :)

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  3. Everyone else loves your blog - I love your daughter xx

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  4. I love your blog and your daughter. I don't know either of them personally, but your daughter sounds a lot more relaxing to be around than either of my two children, who both look like their Dad, but decided that the words Polar and Opposites should apply to their personalities. The only perfection in the house is me. Sigh.

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  5. As you know, I am neither a mother or a father,but whenever I look in the mirror, I see my dad staring back at me. The price you pay,for living so long........

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  6. I am just swinging by to say I love you.

    Just wanted to let ya know xxx

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  7. I like your sense of humor
    Thank you for your positive!

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  8. you can cheer of mood:)
    Share of energy

    write more, I like

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  9. laughed from soul:)
    cool
    write more

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  10. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  11. I like your sense of humor
    Thank you for your positive!

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  12. Everyone else loves your blog - I love your daughter xx

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