10 Things people say to you when you have a ginger child

I love that both my children have ginger hair, but then I love ginger hair, and actually I like all things orange, the first car I ever bought was orange, my old flat mates could tell you a story or two about the orange clothes and shoes I used to own (and there were a few!). So having children with ginger hair really isn't an issue for me, but then I am biased as I think they are both gorgeous. But it would seem other people have an issue with the colour of their hair, and not just people we know but complete strangers! I have sat in a restaurant and listened to a family have a 5 minute conversation about the fact that my daughter, a child they don't know has ginger hair! It amazes me that people feel the need to, and that they have the right to comment on it.

1. Where does the ginger come from?

Ummm, now do I make something up, laugh it off, or give you a bit of a science lesson about genes? As you clearly weren't listening the day we had that lesson at school! And just in case you were listening but have forgotten, ginger is a recessive gene known as an allele, which means that to have ginger hair you have to have been passed a ginger gene from each parent. If just one parent gives you the gene you won’t have ginger hair but two parents without ginger hair can both carry the gene and pass it on to you, if you receive a ginger gene from each parent you will have ginger hair. If both parents have ginger hair you will have ginger hair too, the same as blue eyes.

2. Maybe it will change as they get older

Maybe it will, but why does it need to change, because you don't like it or you think it's an issue that they both have ginger hair. I don't and I am embracing the ginge so it's unlikely they will be bothered by it either!!! Oh and they both have ginger eyebrows so I think it's pretty fair to say that they are both going to stay ginge. Coras nearly 4 and William is 18 months and neither of them have changed since they were bo

3.

Possibly although I think that’s unlikely, Cora has two tone hair but that saw the sun last summer is much darker than the bit that didn’t so she is very ginge by her robots are much lighter towards the tips, she got a natural ombré look going on! She always got a hat or a bandana on in the sun so it’s the bit that sees the daylight that’s changed both her actual hair colour. And Will well Will lives in a beanie. His hair although slightly lighter than Coras is definitely Ginger. I don’t mind the colour so stop trying to make me feel better about their ginger hair.

4. It's not ginger it's strawberry blonde/auburn/any other colour that's not ginger!

No it's definitely ginger, a life time of being told that will certainly give you a complex about your hair colour, so please don’t tell them that it’s not fair and it’s certainly not helpful. Red yes, ginger yes but none of the others their hair is beautiful And should be Told that not made to feel inferior bec

5. It looks more brown today

Does it? I don’t think so but hey if you think so that’s ok. It’s probably the light, their hair is ginger and I am fine with that and they will be too because I will make sure they are ginger and proud. People pay a lot of money to have their hair their colour the same colour as theirs is. It doesn’t need to change colour for me or her, embrace it, it’s beautiful.

6. Ahh don't call them ginge, that's horrible.

It's only horrible if you have a problem with ginger hair (which I don't), and actually calling them that as a pet name is fine. It means that by the time they get to school it will be water off a ducks back, a term of endearment, it won’t bother them at all, I am not alone in thinking this either, I have a friend who has a ginger son, he’s 3, and she calls him lil ginge affectionately all the time, it wont bother him at school so why is that mean?

7. It's getting darker.

Possibly, Williams a baby and his hair is getting thicker, well in fact it’s growing fast so it may well be getting darker but it doesn't stop it from being ginger though.

8. Is your husband ginger?

Nope my husband is not ginger, no one in his immediate family is ginger either, but they are both definitely his. No one in my immediate family is ginger, but we obviously both carry the gene, that’s fine. There was a 1 in 4 chance that Will would be ginger too, small odds I hear you say but they are both very defiantly ginger.

9. It’s such an unusual colour

Is that an insult or a compliment? It’s a beautiful colour, and it’s unusual because its recessive so you both have to carry the genes. The odds of having a ginger baby are slim (1 in 4) when you are both carriers. It is a little bit different but there’s nothing wrong with different.

10. Does she have the fiery temper to go with the red hair?

Cora is nosey and stubborn, and definitely knows her own mind but does she have a fiery temper? I am not sure. She’s actually a very chilled little girl who is always smiling, and a pleasure to be around. Is that a myth or a stereotype possibly? I am pretty sure that there are people out there who don’t have ginger hair who have a fiery temper, everybody has a story about a fiery redhead that they know, the question comes and then the story. I think whether Cora does remains to be seen. Will on the other hand fits the stereotype completely , he’s stroppy and defiant and definitely going to be a toddler that tantrums.

I have had many conversations with people about their hair colour and stories from my friends who either have ginger hair or had it as a child. I’ve had people come up to them and touch their hair without asking, and people randomly take photos of them without asking when we’ve been abroad, but the I’ve also had people say the loveliest things to them, but always they come up and talk to them, more so than I think is normal for a baby. I don’t know why we think of it as a bad thing in the UK as it is beautiful, and I certainly think its been character buildings for them both . To be honest I have heard it all before by this point, and am still shocked by peoples reaction to it. Embrace the ginger people, it’s not a disability it’s a hair colour and I for one think it suits my beautiful little ginge, I wouldn’t change it for the world

www.mygingerandme.com