Monday, March 9, 2009

My three kids.

Have I put up a picture of all three of them together yet? Here is one ...


Ella is so photogenic. Allie is in that weird awkward smiling stage, so I just cropped her out. What an awesome mom I am, eh? ...


Heh. Speaking of being an awesome mom, I love crying pictures ...


I took all three kids swimming today. It's in one of those wading pools, so the girls got to splash around in ankle to waist deep water while I hung out with Karl. He seemed to like it a lot, but I knew he would since he loves baths. Get that boy naked and put him in warm water? Bliss.


My question I post to you today ... How much do you think the parents have to do with a kid's ~early~ ability to be cool?

16 comments:

Jenera said...

Cute kids! How happy Karl looks with the girls.

I think parents can really influence the inner coolness of a kid. In the beginning I think some of our personalities rub off a bit on them to mesh with their own as they get older. Think about every parent who is a total nazi and uptight about everything. Their kids? Totally not mellow and chill.

I like to think my boys are cool. I will say that Aidan is like my hubby in mini form. He has soaked everything that is my husband and made it his own.

It's a scary thought though how we can have input on their personalities because with my craziness, I definitely would not want that to pass onto them.

Are you worried your girls won't dig the whole roller derby/tattooed/punk rock of a mom that you are? LOL

Anonymous said...

I dunno. Define ~cool~? ;)

I'm totally a ~dull~ person (no roller derby or tattoos for me LOL!). I listen to mostly gospel and country music, don't like trashy movies, I rarely say words I shouldn't say...most people probably would not consider me to be ~cool~. Even though my idea of cool might not be the same as someone else's. JMO

But my kids are all very sweet, kind-hearted, and loving...I think that makes them cool? That's just how I see it.

Are you talking about how they dress and their interests, etc.?

If so, then yes, I'd say parents are a huge influence in that aspect if they are following your example, either way it goes, whether one is "rock star cool" or just cool in their own way. :)


Steph
stephs_3_kidz

jenn said...

Adorable! Ella looks so grown up! (And Karl still looks so much bigger with them!)

Even though I have no practical experience yet- logically I have to think that because parents influence their young children since birth & encourage certain traits while discouraging others- there has to be a huge affect on their kids early coolness. Plus children are sponges & parrots- they take it all in from you & spit it back out. When you think it's cool- you encourage it, even subtly or subconsciously. So you have to be affecting their coolness factor.

Mermaid said...

Cool? Probably a lot. My parents are not cool in the slightest and don't care to be. I wasn't a cool kid and I'm not a cool adult.

I don't think you have to worry about your kids not being cool. You're very cool ;)

Birdee said...

I guess if kids are just little replicas of their parents, then if the parent is cool, the kids are cool.
(See how cool you must be? =D)

Kate said...

sincem y kidsa re still baking (& hopefully soaking up coolness from the inside... ha!) i can't answer from personal experience, just what i've seen. & i think as often as parents influence their younger kids' "coolness" it can switch pretty quick as the kids grow up. I know some fantastic hippy parents who have fairly uptight teenagers (still good kids, but not remotely like their folks), & some kids with very strict parents & who turned into wild things around the age of 12 (& thus are considered very cool by their peers & semi-obnoxious by most adults). So I guess this isn't much of an answer, other than to say I think "coolness" in a little kid (when they're probably most obviously influenced by their parents) is not neccessarily the best predictor of "coolness" in an older kid.

Carrie Ann said...

Your kids are adorable. Love the pics! I think parents can really influence how cool a kid is - We make sure Ricky doesn't pick his nose - esp. in public. And god forbid he eats it!

We influence his interests for sure. He is now addicted to Star wars, wants to ride a skateboard, and likes to wear skater clothes.I suppose you could be a dork and wear cool clothes too....(shrug)

Sarah said...

They are all so adorable together!!! What a beautiful tribe you have.

I love crying baby pics too. When Andrew was a newborn and screaming his head off, I secretly thought it was cute. Something about the way the tongue just vibrates in their little mouths. So cute. He kind-of reminded me of Animal from Muppet Babies. Remember him?

MrsSpock said...

Your children definitely look similar...

My mother and her 4 sisters were all the most popular girls at their school. One aunt was homecoming queen and another was a runner-up one year. They were all cheerleaders.

My 4 sibs and I are all smarty geeks. So is my husband.

I think my son is doomed- the coolness is too far removed.

Hollie said...

So adorable. Seriously... warmed my heart made me smile!

I think cool parents make a totally cool kid. How cool will our son be growing up listening to cool music and rocking out (not too loud) and meeting our cool friends? Very!

Morgan Owens said...

I don't like this question, NEXT. LOL!:)

I don't know, that's hard to answer for me for some reason. I think people, including children, have their own personality regardless of how their parents are. I've known people who are really awesome but they have weirdo parents, and vice versa! I think as a toddler they try to be like their parents b/c they think it's cool, but eventually all the sudden you become "uncool" somehow and they become their own person with their own level of coolness. Did that make sense, it didn't to me haha! But I know what I meant! :)

Morgan Owens said...

OMG forgive me, I didn't even say anything about the kiddos...I'm sorry!

But you know I think they are adorable of course! :)

Wordgirl said...

So beautiful Nancy.

No surprise there ;)

I think we're who we are from the beginning and that our parents don't have all too much to do with it...I mean we clearly inherit traits -- but I believe our parents shape us to the degree of what they expose us to, how they allow our self esteem to be supported or thwarted...

They do say that a child's personality is fully formed by the age of two or something like that...crazy eh?

XOXO

Pam

Kaci said...

Adorable kids! Matthew is at that same awkward smile stage - drives me nuts but oh well. Glad he's not the only kid doing that.

I was a cool kid who turned into a not so cool adult, once I stopped caring what other people thought. I don't think that influences our kids though - I know too many siblings that are so extreme in their differences that I can't believe their parents affect their coolness.

About spanking a few posts down because I'm lazy enough not to comment on 2 posts, I will occasionally spank, the swat on the leg/bottom type when nothing else seems to be getting through, or if it's an "emergency". One day at the playground with matthew another child didn't want to leave and the mother had her standing by the car and was buckling a smaller child in to a carseat. The older toddler, probably 4, darted across the street back towards the park. The mom grabbed her & I heard the mom say "when we get home you are in timeout" - huh? I think immediate discipline is much more effective and um, running across the street = swat on the bottom to me!

Sarah said...

I never answered your question. As to how much parents have to do with a child's early ability to be cool?

Quite a bit. If the parents have no sense of "coolness" and they dress thei kid like Peter Pan from the get-go, the poor kid is going to have a heck of a time in school.

You, of course, won't have that problem because your kids are always dressed so cute.

If we're talking personality, then I definitely think that has a ton of influence. Geeky parents make geeky kids. Loser parents tend to make loser kids. It's a sad reality.

Anonymous said...

I don't know much about cool other than I am not it and never have been! I guess I am a weirdo ;) I am ok with that these days.

TBB seems to be quite popular in school though.