little tikes castle

It is a fact that children, born and raised in the same family, by the same parents, grow up to be so uniquely separate from one another. I have seen this in my own family. My wife and I have two sons (who are now grown).

Soon after the birth of our first son, person gave us one of those jumping seats. I'm sure you know what I mean. It is one of those sling-type seats for the baby which is attached to a spring with a door clamp affixed to the top. The clamp is designed to be fastened to a door frame from which the child hangs while seated with his feet merely touching the floor. The spring causes the child to move or bounce when he pushes with his feet against the floor. If he pushes hard enough, he will get a bit of a bounce. Repeating this activity adequate times, the child soon associates his movement with the pleasant sensation of jumping. As he keeps doing this it strengthens his muscles and improves his coordination and motor skills.

Little Tikes Castle

When we first put him into the seat, he just sat there. Then... Nothing... We gave him a little push causing the spring to do its work. Still he would just sit there, possibly laughing a little, but no more. Then, I would try lifting and dropping him just a bit, giving him the bouncing sensation. Still nothing... He would just sit there. After a week of this same thing, we just put the jolly jumper away and tried other things. Even though I saw him play with and wholly enjoy other toys, I did have some concerns about his development. It was supposed to be fun, for him and for me, but it was not!

When our second son was born, I decided to try it again, but with little hope that it would have its intended effect. The inequity was like night and day! From the occasion we strapped him in and without any help from me, he began bouncing and laughing so much it made us laugh. It was something which he enjoyed from day one. My wife and I found such great satisfaction in watching him have so much fun.

In a very real sense, those two separate experiences, are indicative of the very separate personalities that these boys have even today. Both have since grown to be great young men, are college graduates, married and seeing success in their chosen occupation fields. The older is now 30 years old and a elementary school teacher. His brother (27 years) is married and working as a youth pastor.

Same house - different Personalities