"The Power of Some Personalities"

In every family that has two or more children, usually there is one of those children who dominates the others. I hate to generalize but generally it is the oldest child who lords it over the younger siblings. Now in my family it didn't work that way. It was just me and my older brother, and lord knows I powered him into more than one situation that was to my benefit. He was into being the good child while I just let the chips fall where they might.

I wasn't just power hungry, I was manipulative. I really, really liked getting my way and as the baby of the family it seemed easier for me when I wanted my way, than it was for my brother when he wanted something. I didn't get mad and hold my breath when I didn't get my way but I could hold a grudge until it thundered, and when it came to sulking well I was the king of sulk.

With my two sons I always felt Sean, the youngest, gave in to JJ, the oldest, not because JJ coerced him but rather because it was just Sean's personality to be more conciliatory. Plus JJ didn't need to coax anyone into doing anything as he could get most things done by himself and be happy about it.

Now as I am thinking about it JJ did dominate the TV. He had his favorites, mostly sports events, and Sean just adapted and adopted his likes to those JJ preferred. JJ obsessed over the Steelers so Sean became a Steelers fan and so on and so on.

I have already begun to see who is going to be the dominant one as between my grandchildren, Genna and Walker. The red-haired girl wins hands down, while the quieter little boy trails in her wake. She is a steamroller of the first degree while he is a "get along with everyone" kind of guy.

Case in point, we got them TV's that hang on the back of the front seats so they can watch DVD's on trips in the car. There are two separate sets but you can only watch one DVD that appears on both. When they were leaving the house the other day Genna had a Mary Kate and Ashley DVD she wanted to watch while Walker was holding out for "Dora the Explorer."

Somehow I knew Genna was not going to relinquish her control of the DVD selection, and she didn't. She began telling Walker how much he was going to enjoy Mary Kate and Ashley and the way she told it I would have wanted to watch. She made those talented twins sound like the greatest entertainment on earth, and of course Walker bought it hook, line and sinker.

Still to be fair, I have to say Walker usually goes to sleep about five minutes into any trip so I am sure that by the time he would have gotten bored with Mary Kate and Ashley he was already fast asleep. Yet the fact is Genna got her way.

Some people overpower us with the power of their personalities. That is just the way life is. And watching all kinds of personalities in play makes life the fun that it is.

 

 

 

 

 

©2005 Jackie K. Cooper

Click above to find out more about Jackie's books!