To ask what surprised you most about your DC

[SlackerMum1]

DD didn’t have a lot of hair for a long time. But once it started growing properly she ended up with tight corkscrew curls and has one crazy hairdo. Its fabulous but I have literally no idea where she’s got it from 😂

My dd1 is a complete brain box. Complete general knowledge nerd about countries, capitals and flags (my nickname for her is Shelley Cooper). She picks a subject and sticks with it to find out everything about that subject.

Dd2 is athletic. Not from me, maybe dhs family. They’re sporty but dd2 is something else which needs pushing 🏃🏽‍♀️ 💨

How different DS1 and DS2 are. Looks, personality, interests. Both bright boys though and lovely in different ways.

DS2 is a very good looking child. Olive skin, big eyes, light brown hair. So attractive. Not just me who has commented on it!

School obviously think so too as there is a large pic of him in the entrance hall (other children in a collage too but DS on his own in the middle). DH and I despite being fairly average make good looking children.

DS1 also attractive but not so good looking I think.

It's surprised me how I feel about DD. She has such a distinct personality that isn't necessarily me or her Dad... she's just this very new person that I feel I have no ownership of (I always thought she'd feel fiercely mine) but instead I feel like she's just this little human I have the privilege of looking after a while and then live alongside. She also doesn't really look like any of the family which makes her presence feel even more spiritual

How quickly he has grown into a young man. Where does all the time go?

Loving the responses. Lots if doom and gloom in the world at them moment. So it’s lovely to take a moment to enjoy the quirky little things that’s make our DC

My DD hates reading and really struggles at school. I always assumed that because I love reading and found school easy she would be exactly the same as me.
She is also very emotional and empathetic where as I am a bit standoffish.
She is different in pretty much every way from what I expected but perfect and I love learning how she ticks and getting to see life from her perspective.

That 2 of our DC are tall. I am 5.3 and dh is 5.8 but our ds is 6.1 and DD is 5.8

It's surprised me how I feel about DD. She has such a distinct personality that isn't necessarily me or her Dad... she's just this very new person that I feel I have no ownership of (I always thought she'd feel fiercely mine) but instead I feel like she's just this little human I have the privilege of looking after a while and then live alongside. She also doesn't really look like any of the family which makes her presence feel even more spiritual

Yes! This how I feel too. Like I just get to borrow her for a bit before she leaves to conquer the world.

@Ahundredpercentthatbitch yes that's exactly how I feel! It's such a strange revelation! Russell brand said recently (along the lines of) we don't own them they aren't us, they just pass through us. It's wonderful to watch this little independent spirit

I'm having ivf with an egg donor atm (embryos currently in the petri dish I'm on the beach in Cyprus) and this thread is making me feel so much better! The donor has blonde hair and green eyes (like me) but if the child ends up dark I'll know not to blame the clinic.

My DS, who didn't walk till he was 17 months old and was always behind his peers in gross motor skills, is really v good at sport (definitely not like me!)

I thought if I had a DD that she would be a mini me - she definitely is not in either looks or personality. She is blonde, I'm Auburn. She is a huge extrovert and has few inhibitions, loves to be up on stage... Total opposite to her introvert and shy mum!

My children look nothing like me at all physically, different eye colour, body type, size.

What has surprised me most though is how they turned out to be much more their own self than the individuals I thought they would become through my education. The latter has certainly influenced, but I am amazed how I can look back and see that their personality that is shaping who there are as adults were already presenting themselves when they were just a few months old.

We can shape our children, but they really are their own people, and genes play a massive role on personality as much as physical appearance.

I did not expect to love them quite so much and for them to all be so different from one another and from me: total individuals and I love them all completely and somehow that love didn't get smaller by having more, I just developed the capacity to love three people absolutely and all of the time, even when I'm asleep. Crazy

I have two sons quite close in age. Physically one resembles me more, the other his dad. Emotionally and personality wise it's the opposite. So the one who looks like me acts like his dad, and the one who looks like his dad acts like me. It's like a perfect mash up of the two of us.

What really amuses me is how fast ds 1 grows. He is by far the tallest in his year and wearing clothes for children aged 13/14 when he's just turned 9. My younger son is very fine and one of the smaller ones in his class. Yet DH and I are both tall.

I was very surprised that DC1 came out ginger! DH and I are both dark haired DH spent the whole pregnancy joking that "if it's ginger it's going back", and then.....boom

I spent pregnancy number 2 secretly hoping for another ginger and got one...a crazy, curly one to boot🧡

I'd love to make it a hat trick of gingerness, but DH doesn't want anymore children.

Dd is stunning with auburn hair, she was born blonde. Both dh and I are Asian, I have very dark hair and eyes whereas her dad has dark hair and green eyes. My dad has a niece with red hair but she is the only person on that side of the family so I just never expected it.

That DS is the quiet protector of DD already, they’re twins and recently turned two, DD tends to react poorly to toys that look like characters from a cartoon she likes, I don’t know why I think it confuses her. We got her and DS a Hey Duggee singing light up toy for their birthday, it made her cry and before DH and I had the chance to react, DS came over knocked the toy out of the way and then sat between his sister and the toy until she calmed down (by this point I had her on my lap and was soothing her).

It’s something we hadn’t noticed before but thinking back, DS has shown little interest in playing with his sister, but has always been there immediately when she’s upset 😊

My son has just completed an ultramarathon today and finished in top ten. I have laid on the settee and walked to the fridge.

With DS1 what surprised me most (and continues to surprise me) is his kind heart. He has nothing unkind or unsavoury to say about anyone, ever, and not in a holier-than-thou kind of way, he genuinely is just 100% lovely all the way through. DH and I are salty, dry and a bit sarcastic, and this boy is just goodness all day long. It amazes me.

With DS2 it's his determination; he is the best at everything he can be purely because he's so focussed. Never because we push, just because he prides himself on being great at whatever he tries. DH calls him Gordon Gecko because he thinks he'll run a Fortune 100 company by the time he's 30. He is the polar opposite of DS1 but adores him regardless.

With both, it surprised me hugely how much they make one another 'better' versions of themselves; DS1's goodness and kindness has absolutely influenced DS2, and DS2's hot-headed competitive side has brought out a lovely side of DS1 where he'll actually push himself harder because he wants to be the best big brother he can be. It's lovely to watch them grow up together.

I was convinced my eldest would have dark skin and brown eyes and hair like myself and my nieces. Instead she was fair skinned with blonde hair and the brightest blue eyes, and I had to reconsider the name I had chosen for her as it didn't suit her at all.