I didn't recognise 2 year old DD when I picked her up from nursery

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DD is 2 (26m) and still has quite short hair so I've never had cause to put clips in it.

Today when I arrived to collect her she wasn't in her room so I went to another room they sometimes collect all the children in at the end of the day. En route I passed the kids' toilets where one of the staff was in the doorway helping a child wash their hands. I said hello, then 'how are you'. She looked at me slightly quizzically and proceeded to tell me about this child's day. I then looked and realised said child was wearing the same outfit as DD went in this morning, then a few more seconds and I realised it was my DD but literally had to go through the process of noticing the clothes then looking more carefully at her face before I twigged.

The staff had put a hair bobble in her hair to tie the front back. She looked completely different.

I know that if I pass someone in the street out of context I tend not to recognise them but I'm staggered that this extends to not recognising my own daughter straight away simply due to her hair being different.

I feel a bit bad about it and definitely feel embarrassed as the staff must have realised.

Is this remotely normal!?

You probably have face blindness. This happens to me, even with immediately family when they haven’t changed anything.

Um... it sounds unusual.

I was picking dd 12 up from a village green, sat waiting in the car, saw a young girl crossing the road. Made a mental note she looked like a girls in dd's year...
It was dd!!

I have minor face blindness and had a similar experience when one of the children was face painted at nursery. (A frog).I had no idea it was my kid. So we may be in a minority of two.

Prosopagnosia - face blindness.

I can walk past my own family in the street and those 'before and after' pictures of weight loss success stories are completely unrecognizable to me.

It is a source of constant embarrassment.

Happened to me when I collected DD from a dancing exam. She was about 10. They had put her hair in a bun and she looked totally different. Felt bad too!

My DD used to refuse to wear their hair ties back and then when they suddenly did, they really did look different when looking at their faces so I think it’s normal. Remember you weren’t expecting to see you today DD looking any different than when you dropped her off that morning.

I'm hopeless. Unless identical twins have the same haircut or outfit. I have no clue they're identical....

Ha! Remember going to collect DC from nursery, a sea of blond haired babies in nappies (warm day). Took me longer than I would have thought to pick out my beloved child!

Face blindness. It’s a pain. People out of where I expect to see them- no chance.

Kids in a pack of kids all in uniform standing still - can’t pick any out that I know. I recognise people by hair/clothes or a combination along with gait.

I don't recognise my DD when I collect her from nursery either. I recognise her clothes though. I can't tell my DC apart in baby photos (few years between them).

I don't have face blindness but used to struggle to recognise my kids from school on Mufti days. I could cope if they were in Uniform but everyone wearing "home" clothes confused me.

God, that must have been a shock, op! I’ve certainly known people who couldn’t recognise others out of context.

I'm the same! And it's embarrassing! I can only recognize people with some distinct characteristic, maybe red hair, but then if they dye it, I'm lost! I walk straight past them in the street without even acknowledging them.

I went to pick up my DD once at nursery and stood looking at her and another child unsure which one was mine. I was mortified.

I once attended a primary school nativity play specifically to see DS but couldn't spot him. He was wearing a wig, was on stage throughout and completely stole the show - I didn't recognise him. Still a bit sad that I missed it,

I cheered the wrong child on a sports day...only realised during the second race that her shoes were the wrong colour and it wasn't her!!

I have face blindness too. And work in a school. Takes me a very long time to work out 30 names.
Boys are easier because they tend to have a constant hair style, girls take me a long time to learn because their hair and clothes differ more often. I have to find specific features to memorise so that i can learn them all.

Omg I have this ii didn't know there was an actually name for it!

My late Mum & I were looking at toddler photos Dad had taken of my brother & my son, couldn't decide which was which & they don't really look alike.

Same here. Can’t follow plots of movies or tv shows as I can’t tell people apart. Even worse now that every second work guy has a beard as I used to try to pick people out by a specific feature. But now one beard guy is identical to another beard guy.

I once spotted "DD" across a room at a toddler group and had a moments panic that i was breast feedign someone elses kid. Luckily it wasn't her.

My husband has this. He has to go by haircuts and cars and voices. It's a pain. And (selfishly) really embarrassing at times!

I’ve never done this with one of my dc but I have always had trouble recognising people! I tend to walk everywhere with my head down to avoid the embarrassment of bumping in to someone I know and them realising I haven’t a clue who they are. I think a lot of people think I’m pretty rude and think I’m blanking them it drives dh mad because I get actors that don’t look anything alike mixed up when watching films so I have to check with him who’s who.

While I don’t think it’s “normal” it’s definitely more common than I thought from this thread.

I have face blindness too There are dozens of us!

@eosmum try watching films with audio description on - they mention who everybody is, so it really saves my bacon when it comes to following to plot.