Here's the funny thing about this picture. It could really be one of me, rather than one of my daughter. My kids don't look like me at all. They really don't. I've never, EVER had someone say that they could tell my kids belonged to me, but when they see Will, well, I can't tell you how often someone has said "They look JUST like their daddy." Which is fine, I mean, he's a handsome guy :) The only thing about my kids physical appearance that I can claim is their eyes, at least the shape of them and the longer than long eyelashes. Except you'd never know about the eyelashes because as fate would have it, my very long, very thick, come hither, batting my eyes at boys eye lashes fell out after I was pregnant with Briton. Most people loose a bunch of hair, I lost my glorious eye lashes. Which is a bummer but, hey, I got plenty of use out of them.
But personality wise, my kids are very like me. They are like Will too in a lot of ways. But mostly they are me. They are outgoing and a little goofy and slightly over dramatic (only slightly, ok, a little more than slightly) and imaginative. And perhaps it's the personality thing that leads me, quite often to look over and think "Hey, I used to do exactly that when I was 3 (4, 5, 6..)" And although it happens, as I said, pretty regularly, I'm always a little bit taken aback. How is it possible that, without prompting, my daughter woke up with a four year old's passion for My Little Pony. Did she look into my eyes and see those far gone days when I spent hours playing My Little Pony with the kids next door, the hooves of all my ponies marked with my initials so they would not get mixed up, heaven forbid. Is it genetics that leads Briton to spend whole afternoons hunting fairies and gnomes in the garden and making up coded languages with his friends?
I took this photo this morning and really, it could have been me 30 years ago. Wearing nothing but panties - one of my preferred preschool outfits, coloring madly on the floor, hair wild, springer spaniel at my side. It's a comforting thought actually. Because I had a pretty awesome childhood, so I hope that means that my kids do too.