Well, I'm finally posting again which means that I've finally had a day with which I could incorporate a moral. Aren't you all excited? *Used sarcastic voice*
Today my sister and I went to babysit for our two cousins who are four and one. We were extremely excited 1. because they are so adorable, and 2. because the four year old says the funniest things. So we arrived at eight and already Luke had his Batman mask on, which if you didn't know, meant he WAS Batman. Before he sat down to eat breakfast ("do you know what's in my milk? Cinninim") he took off the mask and said, "I'm Luke now". So we watched him eat and my sister fed Jackson his breakfast.
From there it was pretty smooth sailing, Luke played with his Super Friends toys and Jackson walked around laughing and playing with random things along the way. Our cousin Anna joined them a few hours later and that's when Luke started getting a little upset when she "took my Joker" and didn't watch his Super Friends DVD. We ordered pizza and watched some Spongebob before she left when Luke told her mom to "make sure she doesn't take any of my toys".
The whole time Luke was wild and crazy and Jackson stayed very calm. He sat down with me a few times so I could read him one of his books and he smiled an awful lot. That's when I realized it: people adapt to their surroundings really fast.
Jackson was born into a family where there already was one wild little boy. He quickly realized, it seems, that if he wanted to coexist he couldn't combat Luke's wild behavior but he had to stay calm. He always is ready to give a hug or be held and that's probably how my aunt can cope with those two. (They're really not that bad.)
I think I'm a lot quieter and introverted because of my surroundings as well. My older siblings were always so busy and popular that it just seemed too overwhelming to me. My sister always had something going on and she always seemed to be getting in trouble with my mom so I figured that if I didn't do a whole lot, I'd get in a whole lot less trouble. My brother was always so good at talking to people that I didn't really ever feel like I had to say anything and that's why I think I'm a good listener.
I challenge all of you to look into your past or current surroundings and determine if those impacted who you are today. Did you adapt? Did you disrupt? Let me know in the comments. That means you, DramaDaddy.
I adapted. And I disrupted.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to pin down when you consider there were already SIXTEEN other personalities in the house. Adaptation is de rigeur in that environment, but then again so is disruption.
We all did both to a degree, but for most of us (myself included) our disruptive phases were for the most part clumsy attempts at adaptation.
But in my day, we just called it "growing up".
Oh, so THAT's why you think you're grown up.
ReplyDeleteWell, yeah. That, and all this gray hair you gave me.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. I grew up mostly in a house of me & two adults. No brothers or sisters, no kids- just adults. I think that's part of the reason I tend to be the "motherly" figure to everyone else. Mostly because that's all I knew. When my surroundings changed with Sasha coming into my life, I definitely adapted and became more of a kid. As is obvious on magical nights...
ReplyDelete