And how did you adjust to your differences?
Night and day. I dig chemistry. So does my husband. Little kid did not even take chemistry in HS! Big kid had to… dang med school requirements. Somehow, we are doing just fine as a family. 
My kids are much cooler then I ever was. They are braver, and more confident. More willing to take risks. I’m kind of in awe of them.
One looks like me, and the other acts like me. I’m an MBA-type. Older son is a science geek, and younger just graduated with accounting/finance degree. Older isn’t concerned about money, and doesn’t need much to live. Younger is very frugal, but cares about money. I may have been in between them concerning money. They both care about exercise, and I hope I had something to do with that. They lived a very different life than I did growing up, (I was pretty poor, and had to worry about money, they were not). At the end of the day, I don’t care if they are like me or not, but I want them to be happy and to be decent human beings.
According to my family, and close friends, my adult D didn’t drop far from the tree. We are creative types, world travelers, history buffs, very socially tolerant, and have very good senses of humor. We are also moody, prefer solitude vs big party scene, have to stay aware to keep from falling into dark holes, and tend to feel restless “looking” for what will float our boats. I’ll take it because I happen to think she’s an incredible person.
My girls are pretty similar to me. Good students but they didn’t get close to my ACT score LOL 
Good kids too that don’t get into trouble. But I think they are way cooler than I was! I had a little trouble accepting that they aren’t very proficient in piano (that’s my thing) but realize DD’17’s art talent and DD’19’s theatre/singing talents are wonderful too.
The biggest difference is that neither of our children drink liquor at all, while DH and I appreciate the pleasures of alcohol. Our oldest son is a computer nerd and while neither of us studied CS, my husband programmed plenty of stuff as part of his biological work and both my brothers were in CS. My younger son study international relations and is now in the Navy. Both his grandfathers were diplomats and spent time in the armed services (one as a Marine the other in the Navy) - so it seems like he may have inherited something there. I think they both saw biology as something that seemed to require constant work (DH comes works every evening and half the weekend) and my job as an architect never appealed either.
Well, my child is male and I’m not, so there’s that.
D18 is a mix of the two of us. She gets her procrastination and need-to-feel-pressure to do anything from me. She gets her desire for “structure” in life and good academic performance from DW. A real tug of war in the kid!
Biggest difference- my extroversion and his introversion. Especially before there was a lot of info about that. Personality differences mean bugging the kid when he gets home from school when all he wants is to be alone (I was the one who announced “I’m home” as a kid in my recollection).
Other differences. Gender. He had much better parents and was economically well off compared to me. Son has one North European and one Indian parent- different cultures than either parent raised with. H and S like math and physics a lot more than I do. I was a chemistry major, both H and I physicians while son was not. All high IQ and STEM interests. All strong willed (clash of the titans). I see a mix of each parent in his likes- all three readers but only son and I into sci fi.
Son did not go as far educationally- only has a BS, no advanced degrees like H and I. But he is intellectually more advanced and keeps learning so much unrelated to his field. He has had so many more experiences I did not because of finances. Plus not raised with religion since both parents outgrew theirs. Not having an alcoholic father also was different. Similarities include frugal behavior (spending what it’s worth instead of just because can afford it).
Thank goodness our kids are a blend of both parents! Although the underlying personality is huge.
We can’t figure out how youngest likes snakes and eating raw lemons, nor what attracted middle son to the medical field. Other than that, we can pretty much explain ours through a combo on genetics and the environment we raised them with. They’re mostly very similar to us even loving deep discussions, their/our faith, and travel. All of them like being in control too of things, but that’s likely genetic since it’s been that way forever.
My kids are smarter and better looking than me. As a result, they have better jobs and more confidence. I’m sure it’s because of superior parenting
And I married up. (Actually I do feel that my H is the smarter and more driven parent, I feel very lucky in my choice of spouse)
My family is a mix of kids born to me and born from the heart. We’re not even all the same race. I love my kids, I support them, and present a calm and confident exterior that belies the mess inside my brain that is struggling to make it up as I go.
I had mentally prepared myself for a kid like me with a numbers based learning disability ( SAT disparity should give you an idea 750-490) and “late academic bloomer” was prepared to fight tooth and nail for them to be able to achieve what i had in the “olden days” where not being able to get through much HS math mattered very little and doing very poorly in middle school didn’t effect tracking.
Instead I got 2 STEM strong kids who were academically strong since first grade.
The bottom line was that I had no particular interest in my kids being like me.
Why are you asking?
I forgot the point of this thread! The biggest difference in D18 compared to us is that she’s a natural presenter. Has been all her life, from talent shows in ES through internship and conference presentations in HS. Other kids would present in a just-the-facts style while D18 would always throw in a twist. It’s a killer combo, being technical and a good presenter, I hope she takes advantage of that!
DW would need everything scripted ahead of time.
I’m just not comfortable standing up and talking to the air – I need a back-and-forth with my audience. A short talk followed by extensive Q&A is my style.
My kids are nothing like me and for that I am eternally grateful. To all intents and purposes I had quit school by the time I was 15. I left school with one O level (Economics, which I found ridiculously easy). I had no drive or desire to learn anything they wanted to teach me and I rarely showed up at school.
My kids are bright and engaged, inquisitive and cool. Not cool in a trendy way but cool in that they are true to themselves and don’t feel the need to change who they are to try fit in with the perceived cool crowd. They work hard in school and do well. They all earned scholarships to Catholic high schools, the eldest will be starting college at the end of August.
One thing we have in common is we are all big readers. There are always books around our house. I read to them every night when they were little. They have always loved reading, as have I. Just like I did, they moan about the books they are assigned to read in school. When Catcher In The Rye is the most recently published book you have to study I get it.
My kids are not much like me. I’m extroverted, laid back and not remotely interested in math or science. I married a full on math physics engineering type adorable nerd. My two daughters are into science and math, good writers (this does come from me I think), Marvel aficionados, somewhat introverted, and extremely musical (well I sing at least) and proud nerds. Both are academic whereas I was always the not living up to potential popular social kid in HS. I do remind them constantly intelligence is inherited from mother.
Not like me but no big deal. I have enjoyed getting to know them.
I see elements of H and me in both of our kids. We all love books and reading. We enjoy family and spending time together as well as alone. S is very scientific and analytic EE while D is very artistic and intuitive cinema major.
Both our kids enjoy learning for the sake of learning and always have.
We all get along very well most of the time. When folks are tired or hungry, there may be shorter tempers.