If I had a nickel..........

When Jason and I were dating, we would sometimes go to the Mall to window shop & walk around. There were several times when people we didn't know would approach us and say to Jason: "Are you a Merryweather?" to which he would reply: "Yes, I am." Then they would inevitably say: "I went to school with Pat, Jim, David, Rick, Brad, Jeff." All of whom are years enough older than Jason that he never attended a school at the same time they did, meaning these inquiring people had never met Jason personally. This is how strong The Merryweather Family Resemblance is. I capitalize because it has reached legendary status. People could recognize Jason for a Merryweather a mile away. It might have a little something to do with the eyes, specifically the eyelashes. Merryweather Eyelashes (again, I capitalize) are a mile long. Boy and girl alike inherit these insanely long eyelashes, for which I am truly grateful! Not that my eyelashes are anything to spit at, but there really is no comparison.

So it goes to follow that any children of ours would naturally be blessed with several of the Merryweather physical attributes. For this I am also grateful. I mean, if a person were to attend a Merryweather Family party, it would be obvious to them how good-looking a large portion of the attendees are. This is not my complaint. A friend of mine likes to say that it is in the natural order of things that a baby come out looking like its dad. Then there can be no mistaking, right? So I am glad there is such a strong family stamp on my kids. It's fun, and they have benefited from it. I get many comments on the attractiveness of my children. This makes me feel good! However; if I had a nickel for every time I heard the words " he/she looks just like her dad!" or "Where is little Jason?" or some such comment, I'm pretty sure I could pay off a large portion of what remains of our mortgage. I am not kidding.

At first, it was cute, even though our first-born was a girl, I really had nothing to compare her looks to, so I just take it as it comes. Granted, a percentage of these comments do come from the Merryweather side of the family. My all-time favorite was when a prominent, matriarchal member of Jason's family said to me, and I quote, "The only thing Sidney really inherited from you are the dark circles under her eyes." No lie. I don't even get courtesy comments from my family. I think this stems from the fact that I have no resemblance of my own. I am a blank slate of a gene pool for all intents and purposes. I have mostly been happy that I could not trace my genes further backward than myself, it comes in handy sometimes, but that is another blog altogether.

But after six kids, the number of times anyone has observed that they got anything but big eye smudges from me I can literally count on my ten fingers with digits to spare. I officially have a complex. You'd think that there would be some visible credit for me!! Jason always tells me apologetically and a little condescendingly that the kids got their smarts from me, but I don't buy it!! I've had it!! So I put it to you good people. I have found a couple of representative photos for you to examine. If there is a shred of myself in either of these pics, I would like to hear about it. Honestly. Don't patronize me or give me false hope. If you really don't see it, say so. I'm a big girl. Don't think I won't get over it. I'll be fine.











Me at threeish





Sidney at four





















Me at three days old













Connor at about a week











Me at one month















Connor at one month