In thinking back on the several women with whom I lived and the larger number of past lovers, one response endures. My accommodation to that incredible variety of partners was always unique and surprisingly different.
That observation, in and of itself is not interesting, but it has relevance. I find it relates to my ideas of child development.
From my experience with raising children, observing grandchildren and observing the children of friends, I have always been struck by the unique qualities of each child from birth onwards. Children seem to be born with something I humbly call character (others call it propensities, disposition and temperament). Character evolves into personality.
Using the experience of my lifetime of partners I feel helps describe the conditions of child rearing. Child rearing is about the interaction of the character of the child with the personalities of the key people who raise the child (usually parents).
I have seen children with mild character interact with parents with harsh personalities, the outcome is usually a meek directionless grownup. I have seen children with bold character and harsh parents often growing to adulthood with defiant and aggressive personalities; sometimes broken personalities.
I have seen many other outcomes, and especially with multiple children in a family. We have all seen a wide range of outcomes.
I just wanted to pass along the connection between adult partnership observations and an interesting way to related it to child parent interactions and the resulting personality outcomes.