History Main / AlwaysAChildToParent

* A POVShot or ImagineSpot from the parent's perspective where their kid is depicted as a literal child regardless of their actual age.
* The parent continuing to treat the child as though they were much younger: giving them toys and other presents or parties suited to a much younger child.

* ''Webcomic/{{Alfie}}'': As indicated by her nightmares, a good chunk of the motivation behind Vera's SternChase starting at the end of Chapter 7 is her difficulty internalizing that her daughter Alfie is a twenty-one year old woman living with her parents mainly because she did not wish to be married and a woman living on her own would cause undue scandal in the hamlet they lived in before the latter left on a trade caravan after an argument. When Vera offhandedly mentioned Alfie's age to the trail guide she had spent weeks confiding in and bonding with, he is shocked because the way Vera talks about her he took it as given that she was twelve at best.

The trope is often played with in such a way that an adult whose job it is to care for multiple under-18-age kids treats them ''all'' like they're little children even when it's obvious they're older.

* In ''Series/{{Castle}}'', this is a recurring theme in the relationship between Rick Castle and his precocious overachiever daughter Alexis, particularly as the series continues and she graduates from high school and moves out to go to Columbia. Castle is frequently shown having to remind himself that she's not a little girl anymore, and in one episode is unpleasantly surprised to run into her at a con dressed in midriff-baring {{cosplay}}.

* The adult's actions toward the kid are as if they were still a small child. This means changing manner of speech, up to and including addressing the child with BabyTalk.
* A visual change of camera shot to the adult's face, but when the shot goes back to the child's face, they are a ''literal'' small child version of themselves, even though they may still speak with their current voice. In live action media, this requires swapping actors to a literal child for this purpose.

* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', as Tai Lung leaps to attack his mentor and adoptive father Shifu, the kung fu master momentarily sees his renegade pupil as the adorable snow leopard cub he'd once been. The memory of baby Tai Lung makes the elderly monk hesitate and his ex-student brings him down.

* In the song "Mother" from Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/TheWall'', Pink's mother's responses to her son's growing paranoia go way beyond protective and reach the point of {{Tsundere}}-ishness, as Mother promises to help her boy wall himself off from the world and carefully manage her son's love life so that nobody "dirty" will get through that wall.

* ''Series/{{30Rock}}'': Elderly Colleen Donaghy refuses to inform her middle age son Jack about her hospitalization, to the concern of the hospital staff. She explains that Jack was useless the last time she was at the hospital, which Jack clarifies she is referring to his birth.

* ''Series/30Rock'': Elderly Colleen Donaghy refuses to inform her middle age son Jack about her hospitalization, to the concern of the hospital staff. She explains that Jack was useless the last time she was at the hospital, which Jack clarifies she is referring to his birth.