The lockdowns over recent weeks has been a great opportunity to spend more time with my kids. It's also been a nice time to reflect on life. As I observe the interactions between my kids and seeing their interests and how they handle challenges and various situations, I can't stop seeing startling similarities between them and me and my wife.
The question of nature versus nurture has been ongoing for centuries, but it's fascinating to see particular traits replicated in your kids even when you no longer observe these behaviors. For example, when I was little, my mum tells me that the thing that irritated me the most was sticky hands. To some degree, this still irritates me this day, but when I was my son's age, whenever I ate ice-cream or anything sticky, I needed to wash my hands. According to my mum, this was extremely annoying as often there would be nowhere to wash when we're out, so on several occasions she had to knock on strangers' doors and ask them to allow me to wash my hands. :) Well, my son's the same. Whenever he has sticky hands, he needs to wash, even though I don't do that around him.
Other examples that come to mind is with my daughter. When my wife was little, she use to be extremely cheeky. My daughter is the same, a little cheeky bundle of joy. It's the same with interests. My son has a fascination with numbers and rhyming words. I remember when I was younger, doing the exact things he is doing now. The similarities are endless, the looks, the expressions, and even the clumsiness of our kids can all be traced to me or my wife.
So everytime I see my kids doing something that reminds me of myself or my wife, it just makes me smile. It makes me marvel at the wonder of our makeup as humans, and the uniqueness of our individual construct.
How about you? Are there any particular traits in your kids that reminds you so much of yourself or your partner? I would love to read about your discoveries in the comments below.
