Thanks for your thoughtful reply. We've been blessed with great kids, kids-in-law, and grandkids, all of them have filled our hearts with love, honor and pride...
But I have seen really great kids come from really stinking parents, and vice versa...
Yup and then you throw a kicker in there like a child is is developmentally not the same as your average children.
I agree with many of Quix outlook, quite inciteful to some degree for someone with no children, but God humbled me with my second child when I thought I had all the answers to parenting. My children ARE those difficult children. My 1st is easy to connect with, but she has boundless energy and I have a hard time keeping up with her so we often miss moments when we can connect because mommy is just worn out. My second has the same energy, but he is autistic which brings about profound communication problems between parent and child.
And yes, I'm crazy enough to be having a 3rd in a week.
Even though I think there is a lot to what is being said, I still think every dynamic can not be counted for. I too had parents who did not connect AT ALL with me. I still somehow managed to meet those 4 points of success and I came to a point in my life too where I figured it was ridiculous to try and please people who had no interest in me. I moved on. Do I have some greater willpower than 99% of the population? I doubt it. Then again, that makes Quix's point I suppose that you have to work harder, whether your children are hard to connect with or you are one of those children who didn't feel loved, or like me a combo of the two...you will have to work harder and maybe that builds a kind of defiance and strength in the face of adversity if applied.
Just babbling along this fine Saturday afternoon;-)
Certainly I've seen great kids come from awful situations in the home.
And, I've seen awful kids come from parents who were MOSTLY great parents. But they still fell down in key ways.
I have still personally NEVER seen awful kids come from parents who did even 90-98% of especially the core issues right.