Something that I was struck by this week is just how intricate and dynamic the forces of nature and nurture are in creating our temperaments. I am reminded of my own family when the book delves into adoption studies and differences between siblings. I have two cousins on my fathers side, siblings who share the same mother and father but not the same genetic makeup, as my oldest cousin Jenny is adopted. My younger cousin Erin is not. They could not be more different people, and I wonder how these genetic and familial forces have shaped the people that they are. Erin is over the top, loud, incredibly selfish, and never got over the divorce of her parents. She had her first child at 15, then another at 17. She is content to live at home with her mom and party while grandma stays home with the kids.
Jenny, on the other hand, is laid back, thoughtful, and attending school to become an MD. She is very independent and left home at 18 and never came back. She doesn't resent her parents for their divorce, and is determined to be a different kind of mother than her sister, when she's ready. Jenny has chosen not to know who her biological parents were. How much of her makeup comes from them is the unknown. Did her genes influence the environment she was raised in? Did her parents have different expectations of her, being the oldest? Very interesting stuff.
Jenny is a determined woman. Her choices does not make her less of a person,instead it made her focus on what she wanted to be in life. Good luck to her.
ReplyDeleteI find the subject of Nature vs Nurture to be incredibly fascinating! It's amazing how people who were raised in the same household can be so very different from one another. I know that in the case of my family, my temperamental older sister was treated differently by the adults in our lives than I was treated. It's kind of a chicken and egg type scenario! Love it!
ReplyDeleteSeagren- I think about it as the chicken/egg scenario as well. Their mom (my aunt) has a LOT more patience with Jenny than with Erin. The relationships are completely different. It's the best way I have of understanding sibling/parent relationships, since I'm an only child!
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