Kailyn Lowry of Teen Mom fame has just given birth to her second son Lincoln a scant three weeks ago, but she already says her two boys (her older son Isaac is 3) are "complete opposites."
Even though some may say it's early for Lowry to make that declaration, as a mom of two (soon to be three), I don't think it's too early at all. As Kailyn says, my two pregnancies were also completely different from one another. And now my third? Is a TOTALLY different animal.
Here is what Kailyn tweeted:
Everything from my pregnancies to now has been 110% different w/ Lincoln & Isaac. Complete opposites but hope they grow up as best friends.
— Kail Lowry-Marroquin (@KailLowry) December 11, 2013The reality is, just because children have the same parents (though in Kailyn's case, the two are half brothers), there is NO guarantee they will turn out the same.
My first child was an easy pregnancy. She was born two weeks early (always in a hurry) and hated nursing. She only made it to one year. She is also a dynamo in school who knew her letters at 18 months and was reading at age 3. She is always on top in her classes and totally self-motivated. She potty-trained herself.
My second child? Not so much. He was a longer pregnancy, though he came on his due date. He nursed until he was almost 3 and barely knew his letters by kindergarten. Just now that he is in the middle of kindergarten, he has FINALLY shown some interest in learning to read and is finally pushing his way into that. Meanwhile, potty training? Forget it. He was 3.5 years old before that happened.
Parents give themselves WAY too much credit. I can no more credit myself for my daughter's drive than I can for my son's dreamy, slower approach to life. They are who they are and this third one who is coming next month? She is going to be who she is.
Kids are a crap shoot and any good parent knows that they are supposed to be different from one another. That's a good thing. As Kailyn says, they can still be close (I know mine are) and they can help each other. My silly, dreamy son makes my more serious daughter laugh all the time, and my serious, driven daughter makes my silly son more interested in doing his school work. Siblings rock!
So bring it, third baby! And if Kailyn has another, I will be curious what hers will be like, too.
Are your kids different from one another?
Image via Instagram