Nature vs. Nurture

I think you said that very well. I truely believe that a well-rounded, productive member of society adult is a combination of nature and nurture. And neither one can be denied as a factor. Of course many 'bad' adults are the results of bad (or no) parenting, but not every one. As parents we need to do our dardest to parent well the child we have to help them become the best adult they can be. But there are no guarantees. Whether you gave birth to the child or adopted them. I have three kids none of whom are genetically related. I try hard to parent them the same, or at least fairly, but they have vastly different personalities. Which I believe they were born with. And that does lead to parenting one of them differently at times as his needs are different. But I am still trying to parent him to the best of my ability. I am doing my dardest, but at the same time I worry every day that certain personality traits will land him in a lot of trouble as an adult (or sooner.) He almost got kicked off the bus and suspended from school the last week of kindergarten for something he did that wasn't dangerous but was certainly bad judgement. Does that make me a bad parent? It sure isn't something I have to worry about with my other two. Now I am parenting one of 'those' kids that I used to think 'Where the heck are the parents?' when a particular child was always getting into trouble. The thing is, the intesity of his behaviors is also what can make him a true joy at times. When he is being good. I am just trying to get him to use his 'intesity' for good, not bad more often. :) Parenting, either bio or adopted, is a huge leap of faith. Period. There is no guarantee that if I gave birth to another child, he or she wouldn't be as challanging as the child I already have. All you can do is love them and parent them the best you can. And pray!