Fussy Babies=Maleable kids?

I just completely copied this post from Kate Allison Granju's website because I have big plans for today, so I'm in a hurry(not exciting plans, just lots to do). I find this extremely interesting, I may comment further on this later, when I have time. Kind of wierd too, I was just planning to comment that I've noticed since my recent streak of reading, Leanna has become way more into reading herself (without any prompting, choosing to read rather than watch tv or computer or play) and it just reminds me again that kids really do copy so much of what we do. I knew this, but sometimes you forget the practical implications, you know? Anyway, for the record Leanna was actually a very happy baby, but she was very fussy about being held constantly, and actually got fussier as she aged.

Fussy babies = malleable kids?
August 12, 2008
Filed under: sundry — katie allison granju @ 2:39 pm

Some new research indicates that fussier babies are actually more affacted by HOW we parent, while “easy” kids are less impacted.
One of the strongest and most counterintuitive findings in this nascent field is that children with a sweet temperament, which is under strong genetic control, are the least likely to emulate their parents and absorb the lessons they teach, while fussy kids are the most likely to do so. Fussy children have a hypersensitive nervous system that is keenly attuned to its surroundings—including what Mom and Dad do and say. In studies that are shaking up textbook dogmas, Jay Belsky of Birkbeck University of London has shown that fussy babies are therefore wired to be more strongly shaped by their parents than mellower children are. It is the fussy baby who, read to night after dutiful night, is likely to develop a love of books; the mellow baby, given the same literary diet, might just as easily grow into a teen who has no interest in reading anything longer than a text message. The mellow baby, immune to your charms, is more likely to show signs of road rage from the day she first takes her tricycle out for a spin, even though she grew up watching your saintly temper control. Children who go with the flow of new people and new situations are like Teflon: good parenting doesn’t stick to them—but neither, necessarily, does bad parenting. They’re the young adults who can’t form close, meaningful relationships despite the unconditional love you showed them. “Kids with difficult temperaments are more sensitive to the effects of parenting,” says Belsky. “You can get by with sloppier parenting if you have a ‘good temperament’ kid.” Even children who fall between the extremes are generally closer to one than the other.