My first child, Jessica, was very dominant. It would not be unusual to find her playing with six or seven kids in the neighborhood, all of them playing a game they did not like because she wanted to play it, even though most were older than she was. But she was not very competitive at all. Winning was not important to her. Nor was dominating other people, she just did it, but it wasn't important to her.
My youngest is very competitive, she really wants to win, but she doesn't seek to dominate at all. It has been interesting to watch her in sports, since she isn't interested in dominating (though she does want to be friends with everyone), but she does want to win.
Has made me think a lot, wondering what kinds of differences her sisters would have made in her life had they been here to share it. It has also gotten me to thinking and looking at people in groups and on the bloggernacle, and seeing the two behaviors (seeking to dominate and competing) as two very different things.
2 comments:
My 4 year old, Reilly, is very dominating and controlling when he plays. He doesn't have any siblings, so at home, his dad and I, are his usual playmates. He likes to control not just what we play, but *how* we play it. It'll be interesting to see how he develops his personality as he grows. If these tendencies are showing that he has leadership potential, or what, I don't know.
I wish I had better insights into this stuff.
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