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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

He is tall like his daddy. (trivial)

34 replies

angeleyes72 · 04/02/2015 17:22

Mil came out with this gem at the weekend. Dh is 5ft9 fgs. Her husband was similar. My dad was over 6ft. Ok I am only 5ft1 1/2. All our dc are actually short understandably. They also have red har due to Uncle Albert etc. Well actually it is not really red and if it was it would probably more down to my celtic origins.
Aibu to be amused by this.

OP posts:
MaidOfStars · 04/02/2015 17:36

Um, yeah, with all due respect for your husband, 5'9'' is distinctly average.

MIL is painting her son in the best light. Understandable. And he is taller than you, blah blah.

I too would smile drily and roll my eyes

CalicoBlue · 04/02/2015 17:41

I used to get this from my now exMIL. Everything had to come from their side of the family. My DS has a heart condition that is the same as my grandfathers, no it had to come from their side.

She has even said that my DD looks so like her cousin on their side of the family, that it is obvious she has not inherited any genes from me. Even though DD and I have blue eyes and no one on their side does.

I think it is funny too. Though since the divorce I have nothing to do with her.

ISolemnlySwearImUptoNoGood · 04/02/2015 17:42

I always get "he/she looks like his/her dad at (insert age here)" from my MIL. In reality, they're all like me. Nobody, other than her, thinks they are like DH including him. Everytime she comes out with this gem we share a private eye roll and a snigger Grin

HappyAgainOneDay · 04/02/2015 17:48

Ignore them. Children change frequently. Eye colour, hair colour, shape of face etc all change as a child 'evolves'.

Just as an addition, I learned that if you measure the height of your boy or girl when he / she is around 2 (exact time depends on sex of child), double it and you find how tall your child will be . It worked on mine. They are both taller than I am.

Frizzcat · 04/02/2015 17:49

I actually get this from my mum, my dc look like her or my better looking sister. I was somewhat of a disappointnent in the looks department.
Luckily we live in different countries and I don't deal with her often.

Original poster
angeleyes72 · 04/02/2015 17:57

O yes he is also looking more like his dad everyday too.
Men are of course normally taller than women so actually I would say I am below average but dh is average.

OP posts:
BackforGood · 04/02/2015 17:57

Well, I agree, I wouldn't say 5'9" was tall for a man, but, I guess it's quite a bit taller than 5'1" Wink

That said, I think we all catch a glimpse in dc, of something that just reminds them of someone in the family, a lot of the time. At the exact same moment, someone from the other side of the family could be seeing something that reminds them of someone on their side of the family. It doesn't really mean anything - it just catches you sometimes, almost like seeing a 'reflection' o their Aunty or whatever in an expression or the way they flick their hair or the fact they had a sudden growth spurt and got all unco-ordinated for a few months, or whatever it is.

Nowt to get worked up about. As others say, just smile and nod.

Nocturne123 · 04/02/2015 18:04

You're just right to be amused ! Constant comments like this when dd was born drove me insane . Including ones saying how much she was like sil. Still irritates me .. I am petty.

missymayhemsmum · 04/02/2015 18:05

Did I read somewhere that this is a pretty universal anthroplogical thing that the father's family tend to identify and remark how much the child looks like Daddy? The theory being that it reinforces their sense of relationship with said child and publicly confirms paternity?

MadameJulienBaptiste · 04/02/2015 18:10

Ds1 is exactly like Dp and bil. Build, face, hair, the way they walk, everything. Mil had 18 months of going on and on about how he is just like her own boys.
ds2, apart from having a penis obv, is a mini me. Mil has never said one bloody word about who he takes after [GrinConfused

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 04/02/2015 18:13

I get "well their dad is tall" - you are telling me? Im married to him. I know.

Bifauxnen · 04/02/2015 18:18

Missy - I've read that too. "Doesn't he look like his dad" = "he's definitely not the milkmans, oh no."

badRoly · 04/02/2015 18:20

According to mil, all 4 of our dc look like either dh or his sister. None of them are remotely like me or any of my family members.

I have got smiling and nodding down to a fine art Wink

SingSongSlummy · 04/02/2015 18:24

5ft9 sounds pretty short to me, but then my DH is 6ft7!

Annunziata · 04/02/2015 18:28

DS and DD are adopted and still get told that Grin

WiiUnfit · 04/02/2015 18:28

MIL says this about DS... But he's becoming more of a mini-me by the day Grin

Smile & nod is the best way!

moanymandy · 04/02/2015 18:29

My mil does this too. My dh and I laugh about it.

Dh, mil,fil and sil all have dark brown eyes. Mil is from west indies and is mixed race so mojority of her side of family are all dark haired dark eyes etc. ds1 has blue eyes like me.
But mil will say oh he gets his blue eyes from auntie xxx she had blue eyes!! Hmm

Binkybiscuit · 04/02/2015 18:31

My Dsis insisted her son was 'going to be tall like his dad' – who is 5'8" Confused

TheBookofRuth · 04/02/2015 18:32

I get the opposite. Everyone else who's ever met them comments on both my DC being the model of DH. MIL will sniffily admit that they "at least" have his eyes.

And every time one of them cries or tantrums or you know, acts like a child, she tells everyone who'll listen that they "don't get that from US!"

BikeRunSki · 04/02/2015 18:33

This annoys me. DS is 91-99% centile for height and has been all his life. DH is 6'2" and I am 5'8" so both a bit taller than average for tiyr sexes. But everyone says that DS must be tall because of his dad's genes. Erm no, all the men in my family are 6'5" or taller, I think you'll find that DH is a comparative shortarse.

Original poster
angeleyes72 · 04/02/2015 19:09

just noticed his height in red book and he is just under 25th centile. ha ha

OP posts:
LokiBear · 04/02/2015 19:15

I get this too. Most irritating but I too eye roll and smile.

chrisrobin · 04/02/2015 19:25

My GMiL likes to say "Oh, doesn't DS2 have lovely light brown hair, I wonder where he got that from?" I have light brown hair, but obviously cannot be responsible! She points it out to everyone who visits when we are with her, they must see that it is the same colour as mine but all agree with her. Maddening, but harmless I suppose.

MrsTawdry · 04/02/2015 19:43

Ooh my MIL does this! "Oooog isn't she like X!" and she's talking about some trollish great Aunt who was NEVER a looker! Angry

Stinkle · 04/02/2015 19:48

My inlaws insist that every positive thing my children do comes from their side of the family.

DD1 is really good at art and has won a few competitions. I'm not too shabby in the art department, but no, takes after their family.

DD2 is learning the piano - oh, she's musical, takes after their side of the family (er, hello?, I got to grade 6 before packing it in as a teenager)

The bad stuff never seems to come from their side though, funny that Hmm