Grand kids

The local grandkids are coming over this morning and will stay with us while the parents go out for few hours.  I'm not sure if the littlest one will stay, but we are hoping the timing will work with feedings, etc.

R and I talk often about the personalities of our own little next generation, and how similar or different they are from the the kids we raised.  The eldest in each family are strikingly similar in personality to the parent and child of ours.  I am hearing responses in nearly the same tone and attitude that I heard thirty or so years ago, and I enjoy seeing the intelligence and desire to master skills that were present then.  The next oldest in each family are quite different from their older sibling, just as it was in our family.  I can't say they resemble our middle son, but the quirky factor and tendency towards a different extreme is there.  The youngest grandkids are the wild card, with the ability to shake up the family dynamics, blast out their own niche, and enjoy the ride.

Because these grandkids have two parents, I often wonder what the other side of their family sees and feels about their personalities.  Do they see just as much of their own kids in the grandkids as I do?  I think people see and recognize what they know.  I almost always see more features of one parent in a newborn, and it is almost always the parent I know best.  I'm always shocked when someone who knows the other parent better claims a newborn looks like him or her.  I think we all do it, just on opposite sides.

Oh well, kids are coming soon.  It's a great day!