Nature vs. Nurture

Having studied to be a school teacher with a minor in child development, I was always intrigued by the whole nature versus nurture theory. It's the debate whether nature, or heredity, plays more of an important role in human behavior, or whether nurture, or environmental influences, play a more important role in how a human will develop.

Before having kids, I believed that nurture was much more important in explaining human behavior. After having kids my opinion has changed.

Since birth, my kids have been treated equally, given the same rewards and punishments for equal offenses. They receive the same love and attention, cuddling and playing, yet they are SO DIFFERENT! I couldn't have four children with more different personalities!

Angel, my caring, outgoing daughter, can change moods at the drop of a hat. One minute she is loving on you, making you feel more important than the president, and the next moment she is expressing her anger at you for something you said or did.

She is my child who has an answer for everything! The other day, I found at least two pair of panties lying around the house. When I questioned her as to why she kept changing, she

disgustedly replied with a huff, as if I should have known, "Mom, I change because I have little accidents." When questioned by my mom today as to why she and her sisters eat their buggers, she once again hastily replied with her hands in the air, "What do you expect from us. We like to eat buggers."

Angel is also my easily frustrated child. She gives up easily if the task at hand takes more than 20 seconds. She has no problem letting someone else do the work for her.

She prefers to be standing in the same square foot that I am standing in AT ALL TIMES!

Her screams are enough to shatter a window faster than a rock could.

Her care and concern for others is a trait that I hope she displays well into adulthood.

Isaac, my independent one, can entertain himself with the littlest of things. A stick and a rock would satisfy him for minutes on end. Although he too, frustrates easily, he continues to work at his task until it is completed. Typically, he is working through tears the whole frustrating time!

There are times when Isaac's independence gets him into trouble. He feels free to mosey into the pantry for a snack, while it isn't even snack time, choosing snacks that aren't even designated snacks. The other day he walked upstairs chewing on something obviously yellow. When I questioned him on what it was he was eating, he assuredly answered me that he was eating his chosen snack of "Kid's Gum" also known as Laffy Taffy. He said it with such confidence, it was difficult to reprimand him for it.

Isaac tries to make a deal about everything. He continually tries to increase his snacks by one or two servings. Yesterday, I agreed that he could have 3 yogurt covered pretzels before dinner. Not satisfied, he requested 6. Standing firm, I offered 3. I felt as if I was at a swap meet selling items, for he came back with, "How about 5?" Eventually, but not before a determined effort, he grabbed the 3 pretzels and left the kitchen.

Although he no longer takes naps, he's a marvelous sleeper at night.

He's completely content sitting inches from the television screen watching whatever picture is moving across it!

He enjoys spending the night at any one's house that will host him.

Bella's feisty personality always keeps us on our toes. She gets great joy out of instigating her brother and sisters. Her newest technique is repeating everything they say. It is her most successful technique to date, as it drives all three of them crazy!

She is our athletic child. It's not necessarily that she is athletically inclined, but she thrives on the attention that she gets from her family while she is out playing. Our shouts of encouragement bring a smile to her face, while she is dribbling the soccer ball the wrong way down the field! In the next couple of months she will begin playing t-ball. We will work on teaching her the correct way to run the bases!

She is a very talented printer and loves to color. The act of coloring or writing engages her attention for hours on end.

She's willing put put forth enough effort to complete a task with little or no frustration. No one is going to complete a task that was originally given to her.

Although it's obvious that she loves her brother and sisters, the most important thing to her is her dingy white polar bear that has been her best friend since her early months of life.

It makes it difficult that she, too, prefers to share the same square foot of space that her sister and I are sharing.

And then...there's Annie. So much can be said for her striking personality! First and foremost, she is my control freak. She expects things to be done her way, or no way at all. Without fail, each time I hold out my hand for her to grasp while walking through a parking lot, or anywhere for that matter, she ALWAYS has to choose the other hand to hold. It doesn't matter if the other hand is full of grocery bags or junk that I've emptied from the car, she has to have that hand. Because I'm done fighting that battle, I graciously transfer the things to my other hand so that Annie may grasp the hand of her choosing.

I always say that she is just as sassy as she is cute. One minute I want to eat her up because of her cuteness, and the next moment I want to wring her neck because she is throwing the mother of all tantrums.

She has a crying/tantrum stamina that I'd be willing to bet would beat out all other children her age.

She's even more attached at my hip than her two other female cohorts are.

She would be perfectly content if the majority of her meals consisted of fruit snacks.

She was blessed with the gift of gab.

Her smiles and professions of love for me tend to erase all of the bad acts that she engages in each day!

* * *

Because my kids could not have more different personalities, yet they have been raised the exact same way, I have to change my vote from nurture to nature. Heredity plays a much more profound role in the human nature of my children.

I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, I'm just stating a fact. I won't change my ways of raising my children, I will just realize that their genetic make-up plays a great role in how they deal with life- from how they accept challenges to how they deal with others.

I embrace the differences in my children, for it is their differences that make them unique!