There have been a lot of shocking moments in television history, but for me the most memorable remains the ending to part two of the 1984 miniseries V:The Final Battle. For those not as old or nerdy as I am, this was a sequel to a previous mini-series that aired on NBC, one of only three channels that we had to choose from in those days, about reptilian space aliens that disguise themselves as human in an attempt to steal the Earth’s water. To answer your first question, yes it was as awesome as it sounds, and for your second, the episode I’m referring to ends with an impregnated human teenager giving birth. The final shot is of a reptilian looking boy with the blue eyes of a human and a human looking girl – who suddenly reveals a forked tongue.
My daughter wasn’t born with a forked tongue, at least not a literal one, but my wife and I will both admit to a moment of stunned surprise the first time that we saw her, that first moment when we were presented with an identical replica of my face somehow transferred onto this tiny child’s body. First pictures sent to family and friends not amused by what they initially thought to be a photo-shopped prank.
As she’s gotten older the resemblance has gotten less uncanny and there are more and more of my wife’s features and mannerisms that are recognizable. There is a look of displeasure that they both give me often that is particularly similar. Children inherit exactly half of their DNA from each parent but of that 49% will be identical to the half inherited from the other parent. The remaining 1% comes from the father according to a bunch of articles that I read but didn’t fully understand. Other genetic traits are passed on from ancestors but at an increasingly smaller percentage as each generation passes.
What I therefore infer is that somewhere in the family history of either myself or my wife this guy has some explaining to do.
Neither my wife nor I are overly extroverted people. I think that for the most part we are nice enough once you get to know us, though you could certainly find those that would testify otherwise, we just aren’t talkers, not ones to take the initiative when it comes to starting conversation or making new friends. It surprises people that I write this blog because they always assumed I didn’t really have much to say. The biggest mystery surrounding my daughter hasn’t been how such a beautiful little girl can so closely resemble a forty-something schlub, but how many words she is able to expel at such a rapid rate. Where did those chromosomes come from?
This past week we met with her teacher for our quarterly conference and when we asked Alaina what she thought her teacher would report she asked us not to get upset or surprised if we heard that sometimes she talks more than she should in class.
After going over her academic progress her teacher asked us if we were familiar with this meme:
We weren’t surprised.
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This post was previously published on Thirsty Daddy.
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Photo credit: iStock