I'm always intrigued by the comparison of characters to children, because for me it's not like that at all... My OCs are more like people, just random people, who I get to know and then have to leave after not staying with them for a long enough time. This is why I tend to let them appear again whenever they're relevant (and why I'd be tickled pink if someone wanted to use them - I'd want credit for their creation, of course, but I'd love to see them getting up to other stuff).