YOU WERE RIGHT, I WAS WRONG

Several years back, when I was still working and I didn't have any kids, I had an argument with the guys that I worked with. They already had children and they told me that kids are born with 90% of their personality and you were LUCKY if you could mould that last 10%! I got on my soap box and said THAT couldn't possibly be true and it MUST be the other way around. At the time I thought kids were basically little pieces of clay just waiting to be formed into wonderful adults. Well, today I'm here to tell you, I WAS WRONG! Now I have three kids and I know that THEY WERE RIGHT!!

My son, my firstborn has a personality like a donkey, stubborn. He likes everything to stay the same including the fact that he has never wanted to leave me. This should have been obvious to me the day that he was born. It took 32 long hours to get that kid out! His head was down, but he was facing in the wrong direction. This was because he wanted to get his head wedged firmly into my spine so as I pushed I only succeeded in causing myself more agony. The cord was wrapped around his neck but I'm convinced that this was only because he was using it to help him hold on. I can picture him holding on for dear life yelling "No way, I'm not coming out!"

My youngest is a worrier. She also had the cord wrapped around her neck. Apparently this really scared her because there was meconium (poop for those who don't know) in the amniotic fluid. I guess it really scared the you know what out of her! When she came out, she was probably thinking, "oh my god, what if the doctor drops me!"

Then there's my middle daughter. The cord was around her neck too but she wasn't worried a bit. She came out fat and happy! She weighed a pound and a half more than my other two kids and I think that was totally due to her laid back attitude. She was two years old before I saw her worry about even the simplest thing (a pea got stuck in her nose).

In general that is the way that they all are today. Sure I've managed to get my youngest to worry a bit less and the middle one to at least worry a little. I've manage to get my way with my son at least some of the time. However, I have accepted that they were just born with the personalities that were handed out that day. I can deal with that. Afterall, this way I can't really be blamed for any psychological problems they develop!