Do You Have a "Mini Me?" Or a "Mini Him?"

Does your child have your blue eyes? Your wit? Your sense of adventure? Or does he take after his father with dark hair and a serious side? Of course, kids can have traits of both parents, but are there any characteristics of yours that you wish your child didn't have? Or that you wish he did? Mindy Roberts of The Mommy Blog asks, "Which parent does your child resemble?"

Who are your children most like? Are your children very different from you or very much alike? And how has your child changed over the years?

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Tanya L. Cox
2 yearss ago

My adult son looks a bit like me but mostly like his father. I am on my second family/husband and my 9 yr old daughter and 5 yr old son are the spitting image of my sis-in-law at her age and my husband at his age respectively. My son is actually nicknamed minime because the resemblance to his father is so striking that it is commented on everywhere we go. BTW my daughter could also be a doppleganger for Dakota Fanning at 9 yrs old. We get stopped by strangers in the street to comment on that one, lol. To my knowledge we are no relation to that young actress. Lastly, I don't mind that the kids don't have much physical resemblance to me. They have many of my personality traits if not my looks. I always joke "I translate my mates genes well and produce carbon copies"

NJ_2_NorCal_Mom
2 yearss ago

MeMyselfandMommy
2 yearss ago

Moanna goes through phases. There are times that she looks like me, and there are times that she looks like Steve. It also depends on who you ask. Some people look at her and go, "She looks exactly like you, Renee." Others, "That is Steve in the form of a little girl."... Steve and I agree that she looks A LOT like his mom!

Kait
2 yearss ago

My oldest daughter is an exact replica of me as a child with her personality. My hope is that she will learn better than I did, or at least faster, that it's okay to not be perfect. My youngest has my husband's laid back personality and love of laughter and happiness, with a strong streak of my stubborn and creativity. That one? Will be a joy when she's sixteen. But since they're adopted, obviously they don't look a thing like us. Family is more than genetics and personality adapts to the environment you're in. They're very much like us, but it was a total luck of the draw.

Naomi Momosis
2 yearss ago

I'm so pale that I skip the sunblock and just go for big hats and shade, and I've adopted two beautiful African-American boys (who are biological brothers). So this one is easy.... they don't look like me. I'm enjoying getting to know them -- there are so many things about them that are very different from me or their dad. But there are the things that I know I nurture in them. When I hear them say, "I have an idea!" "Almost! Try again!" "I don't know, let's try it!" or "Go for it!" It makes me proud of the hard work I do as their mother every day. Which is good, because it help me feel better about all the moments that reflect my less positive traits in amazing technicolor...

katedg
2 yearss ago

There is actually some literature out there to suggest that babies who look (and smell) more like dad, are likely to receive more of their support. Since nature doesn't provide a DNA test, a father can never be completely sure a child is his own. (Think biologically here, and suspend society/culture). Therefore, it makes evolutionary sense to provide his limited resources (time, food etc.) to children more likely to be his. There may be some evolutionary pressure to express a phenotype more closely resembling dad's so that dad is more likely to stick around and provide for baby. Here's the paper, from the journal "Animal Behavior": Alexandra Alvergne, Charlotte Faurie and Michel Raymond. July 2009 Father–offspring resemblance predicts paternal investment in humans. Animal Behaviour. Volume 78, Issue 1 Pages 61-69. Also: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17285-looking-like-daddy-has-mater... Of course, not everything can be so easily reduced to evolutionary biology. There is, of course, a world full of culture and relationships that adds loads of complexity to this idea. But, pretty interesting anyway!

Arizona Writer
2 yearss ago

Oooh, thanks! I'm writing about something related to that, so I'm totally using that article. Very interesting indeed.

bwankel
2 yearss ago

oh what a fun topic! Appearance-wise, my son is a good mix of me and my husband. He's got my husband's nose, ears and hair, and my eyes and mouth. He's still young though, and kiddos do a lot of changing. Also, I saw a baby picture of my father at my son's age and it was like...twins. So weird. Personality-wise, it's all my husband. He's hyper, he's sensitive, he's creative, he loves to explore, and it's not that I don't have those traits too, but with my husband they're really amplified, and also with my son. My MIL always says, "I cursed him to have a kid just like him, so I'm sorry you have to raise that child". LOL And yes Alice, what is with the boys getting the great lashes? My son's are like a mile long!

Arizona Writer
2 yearss ago

First off, the eyelash thing? Check it out: Exhibit A Exhibit B Exhibit C So yeah, I totally second the "What is it with boys' crazy eyelashes?" comment. Honestly, I used to have huge issues with this, because -- I guess I'll just blurt it out -- the biological contributor that gave me my son disappeared seven months before he was born. So every time someone saw something in my son that wasn't patently me -- his slightly darker hair and skin tone, say -- I sort of inwardly freaked out. But I came to find out that it doesn't matter, not really. If you're close to your child(ren), whether they live with one or both parents or some other arrangement, people seem to notice all the ways you're alike, what you share, and where your differences enhance the experience. -- and those become the things that really matter. My son has my love of reading as well as photography. We're both comfortable around animals. As for temperament, I think he's a pretty even combination of my traits, my husband's (his real father, the only one he's ever known and an excellent dad), and his own, unique, wonderful character. He's a pretty awesome person in his own right.

peapillybean
2 yearss ago

My husband’s family lives away from us and mine are very close by. We also live in the area where I grew up and my Husband grew up in a different state. Everyone says the kids look just like me; all the time my poor husband doesn't get a look in. Until we took a holiday to where his family is, and they are all wow don't they look like Glenn, they certainly take after our side of the family don't they. I'm thinking what?? Maybe you see the person you know the most in the kids, or maybe I have freaky little chameleon kids who change to suite their situation.

Do You Have a "Mini Me?" Or a "Mini Him?"

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