Writer's Workshop: The Most Unbelievable Blue Eyes

*Today I am participating in Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop by answering the prompt: 3.) The most unbelievable blue eyes you’ve ever seen…

This is an adaptation of a blog first posted on September 29, 2008.

This is a photo of my daughter; I think she is about 5 months old in this photo. She had some cheeks, huh? You know I just ate on them all day long.

As you can see, her eyes were blue–really, really blue (forgive my clumsy red-eye reduction attempt). Two days after she was born–when she decided to open her eyes–the first thing we said was “Her eyes are blue!” It was a shock to us as it was to everyone else. And boy have we heard it through the years! Her eyes turned green at about a year old and there they have stayed, but we still get the same reaction, even today. People look at her and comment on her eyes; then they look at me, with my brown eyes. If I am without my husband, sometimes they don’t say anything because it is possible that her father is the green-eyed parent. But if we are all together, they look at her, look at me, look at my husband (with his brown eyes), look back at her, and always ask the same question: “So where did she get her eyes?” Like we bought them at the store on sale somewhere. The answer that I give, that her grandmother has green eyes, is met with skepticism. People: I have videotape to prove that I am the one who brought her into the world in my living room on a sunny fall day. I don’t think anyone wants me to pull that out!

Genes are funny things. My husband’s mother was born with blue eyes that turned green, just like my daughter’s. Both of her two boys have brown eyes and all of her siblings have brown eyes. The green-eyed gene was waiting to make an appearance once again with the birth of her second grandchild.

Folks mean well, I know, with their comments. But it makes my daughter feel self-conscious that people question her place in our family because she stands out among our trio of brown eyes. It doesn’t help that my son looks just like me.

Here she is now, at age 8.

My hope is that as she grows, she will not listen to what people say about her eyes or hair or skin, or that she doesn’t resemble anyone in particular in the family. Instead, she’s got a little bit of everyone in her beautiful face. She long as she realizes that she is deeply loved in this fabric of a rich, complex heritage, that is all that matters.

I wrote more about my Green-Eyed Brown Girl on One Brown Girl.com.

Visit Mama Kat’s Losin It to write a prompt of your own.

19 Comments so far

Well, they are certainly beautiful eyes! And those cheeks? I just want to eat them up! Adorable baby!

OMG!! She’s so cute! My oldest daughter had chubby cheeks like that!
I think that any of my girls would trade their blue eyes for green any day!

Awww! I love her eyes!! And I think she will love them too one day! She is beautiful!
Stopping by from MamaKat’s!

ojos verde! She is gorgeous! People can be ignorant sometimes, I just wish they’d keep it to themselves.
Teresha@ Marlie and Me´s last [type] ..Wordless Wednesday- These Bars Cant Hold Me!

Look at those cheeks!!!! Wait, you delivered at home? Is there a post about that? She is gorg!!!
Mom Noir´s last [type] ..Site Seeing- Perusing The Web

I did deliver her at home and I need to write a post about that! I wrote out the story shortly after she was born, but then when I switched computers it got lost. Since it was almost 9 years ago the details are fuzzy, but I remember the highlights because it was such an experience. I feel very strongly about home births and sad to learn that the state that I currently reside in, Georgia, does not allow them (not that I’m having another baby).

And she gets older, she does love them. But she isn’t a kid who likes strangers giving her attention and because she is a brown girl with green eyes (with parents who have brown eyes), she gets unwanted attention. We’ll see how she feels about that at age 16!

I realized from the comments and Twitter comments that I should include a current photo of my daughter, so I updated the blog post.

I read your blog post Mandi, but couldn’t leave a comment. You should keep your daughter away from spray paint–in case she follows in your footsteps!

Your daughter is absolutely beautiful and one day will be very thankful that she’s so unique!

Her eyes are beautiful.
Two of my boys also have very light eyes and we are stopped all the time because people comment on them. Very interesting how fascinated adults are by pure genetics and how children tease. My big boy is called Brownie in school and he hates it (last name is brown and his eyes are light brown). I like you hope that my boys don’t listen to what others say about their eye color but that they are well rounded beautiful boys both inside as well as out.
MrsDeveter´s last [type] ..Alicia Keys vs Fantasia Barrino

Beautiful eyes. And we get questions all the time, as did I when I was little. Makes us stronger and WAY more interesting:)
Dumb Mom´s last [type] ..This Post is NOT About BlogHer10

her eyes are beautiful, her smile is luminescent
CoffeeJitters (Judy Haley)´s last [type] ..My blue eyed girl

Awwww, Sushi Roll…beautiful as a baby and still so gorgeous—inside and out.

OMG. My son was born with blue eyes and I was scared because I had never seen a little black baby with blue eyes before.I had hoped they’d stay blue, but slowly his eyes turned green. How funny we share such a similar story.

WOW – her eyes are absolutely stunning!!!

I totally relate – my daughter has curly hair and blue eyes – neither of which me or my husband have or have ever had. I answer the questions at least 10 times a week … I always stumble through her Great-Grandmother and Grandmother having curly hair, and how it’s a dominant gene…and her Granddad on one side and Grandmother on the other having blue eyes…

It’s so silly – I almost feel a need to pull out a Punnett Square diagram to prove that she could INDEED have curly hair AND blue eyes and still be BOTH of our child…as if they’re questioning her paternity.

And, quite ironically, my stumbling and explaning just makes them even more suspicious.

I’ve seen your daughter on your blog and her eyes are beautiful! And, for the record, I do believe that she is your child

I just feel for the kids because they don’t want to be called out for being “different” and really what are they supposed to say? It’s just who they are.

She is gorgeous, just like her mama! But I know what you mean about people’s comments making her self-conscious. My Jayce is always being told “you’re a big boy!” He is a big boy…has always ranked in the 95% percentile since birth. But now that he’s four, he seems to be a touch sensitive to hearing how “big” he is all the time. It’s an innocent remark–I know–but it would be nice if he didn’t hear it constantly.

Oh, and btw, that last paragraph was beautifully written.
Darcie – Such The Spot´s last [type] ..Where I’m At

RSS feed for comments on this post.

TrackBack URI

Leave a comment