Friday, February 18, 2011

parenting different personalities


Recently, I've been marveling at how very different my children are. My ALL boys children. I don't know why this surprises me. I mean my girlfriends are girls, but are very different--of course we have had different upbringings too. So, I think, okay, let's look at my sister and me. Sure enough, we are quite different from each other too, even with the same upbringing. But, is it really the same upbringing?


The fact is, we do parent each child differently. Sure, from a broader scope, we raise them the same, or at least we try to with our faith, values, etc. But because each child is created differently with unique personalities, we sometimes have to change our parenting steps along the way.



Some of this has come to mind over transitions that have or have not been occuring in our house lately. For example, Luke gave up his paci on his own at 15 months and was the easiest kiddo ever to potty train. Charlie eventually gave up his paci, somehow a lot easier than we anticipated, but it was much later and he's nowhere near ready for potty training at close to 3. But, Charlie can dress himself much earlier than Luke ever did, sleeps later and can play on his own! Miles, too, has his own way of doing things at 4.5 months old!


I am saying none of this to compare them to each other, but to highlight just how different our children are from each other. One needs more sleep, one needs more reassurance, one is more independent, one soaks up every moment of life, one holds back and assesses situations, one does the opposite. Again, I know this shouldn't amaze me, but it does. Sometimes I think, "Wow, it would be so much easier if so and so did this like so and so did!" But, how awesome it is to be able to nurture these little ones with their own unique personalities! I truly believe it helps hubby and I look at life in a different way each time around. It helps us appreciate different characteristics and keeps us on our toes! I am very thankful the Lord has given us the opportunity to learn how to parent each of our children differently and even more thankful for our sweet, unique little boys! Now, please remind me of this when we do finally start potty training Charlie!!

1 comment :

Anonymous said...

Great blog. Thanks, Babe.

ccj

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