Raising your child to be like you

[la79al]

I just realized that without realizing it, I am heading toward 'raising my DD to be like me'. I didn't intend for this to happen-I feed her all sorts of things I will not eat, to attempt to thrwart picky eating, etc. But now that I am starting to plan our next DW trip, she doesn't stand a chance. I am not a parade person. And by me not being a parade person and not planning on hitting the parades, I am therefore raising DD to not be a parade person. There are some rides/shows that I just don't like and most likely won't do. So DD won't see them either. I know at this age she is too little for it to matter but later on will I need to adjust things to expose her to as much as possible and let her choose what she likes/dislikes?

 

[crisi]

She'll choose it. Some of your likes and dislikes she will pick up - but I'm a voracious reader and I've never seen either of my parents read for pleasure. My sister is crafty - where that comes from who knows. My son is athletic and tidy - not getting it from me or his father.

If you like thrill rides and she doesn't, she just will refuse to go. If she ends up loving parades, she'll figure out they are happening and ask to go. The only thing you need to do is be willing to respect her likes and dislikes and not force her to do something because you like it.

 

[stella27]

Once she's a little bigger, she will express her desires to you, and because you want her to be happy, you'll do a lot of them with her and for her. And then, when she's about four or five, you may realize that she has become overly demanding and you'll scale back on doing everything she wants to do so that she doesn't grow into a demanding, unappreciative child. It's a constant give-and-take between indulgence and restraint, but I bet she'll be a parade person before too long - even though you're not.

 

[powellrj]

I wouldn't worry too much. I have 3 kids and they are all very different from each other and from DH and I.

My oldest had a mom who made everything from scratch. I made my own peanut butter, jelly, grew and would freeze my own veggies and made everything homemade. He is also my pickiest eater. He will only eat plain things and could live on chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. He never had a chicken nugget until he started school and ate in the cafeteria and I made my own macaroni (I made all my own pasta back then) and cheese but discovered Shells and cheese at a friends and that became a favorite. He is the anti everything child. No extra curricular activities, no prom, no sports but he was the kid I enrolled in everything when he was younger.


My middle child is in everything. Show choir, drama, life guard, played guitar, chess, boxed and wrestled and loved all the extracurriculars at school and he was the kid who we didn't sign up for anything extra when he was little because I had to work. He is also my adventure eater and loves to make his own sushi and pad Thai.

We call our youngest our little public servant. She loves church youth group so much she attends 2 different churches because they meet on different night, she loves student council and has planned several fund raisers on her own and she is only 13. She is nothing like either of her brothers. She play tennis and takes dance and use to play basketball. Once again these are things her brothers never did. The only thing she has in common is music and drama like her middle brother.

Kids have a way of finding their own ways. My kids do so many things that my DH and I never did growing up. I hate parades and never watch them and my kids will DVR them and watch them together. I love reading and none of my kids nor my DH like to read, I love Law and Order, but nobody will watch with me.

Your DD is still very young, I have a feeling she will find her own way no matter what you like!