My kind of thing

It's good to have a strong sense of self, but it's also good to be able to challenge that sense, to move beyond whatever stereotype you have of yourself. It's good to know what you're like, but it's too bad to be limited by your self-perception.

Each week I get these "Your Baby This Week" email messages about Laurel's developmental stages, and the most recent message told me that the personality she has now will pretty much be the personality she has forever. This made me think not just of Laurel's personality (which continues to be serene, self-sufficient, and content), but of Isaac's.

He's a cautious kid and always has been -- but now that he's older he knows he's a cautious kid. Sometimes when he doesn't want to try something new, he cites his own temperament as the reason.

I jotted down some quotes from Isaac way back in March:

I'm not the kind of person who ...

likes swinging on tire swings
goes swimming
likes to play with other kids
falls asleep easily

Are these personal insights or self-imposed restrictions? Whichever, I'm glad to report that most of them have changed over the past eight months. He still doesn't like the tire swing at his preschool, but he now claims to have loved his swimming lessons. He's definitely interested in playing with other kids, although it doesn't come naturally to him; he still finds it easier to hang out with adults. And, miraculously, he has turned out to be an excellent sleeper. Never, ever, ever thought that would happen!

Anyway, tonight he demonstrated another bit of personal insight. He was browsing on the shelf of books that are still a bit old for him, and he pulled out a picture book about a family that accidentally makes a deal with a devil. After he glanced at the sort-of-scary pictures, he realized he didn't want to read about demons. So he said, in a reasonable tone, as if politely declining a second helping of dinner: "Devils aren't my kind of thing."