Peanut Blossom Book Club for Recovering Readers discussion

When I read on my Kindle, I enjoy highlighting passages for later. My favorite line from this whole book was:

Jamie "began wondering if there was some kind of Watsonian guide for the care and keeping of Holmeses."

It made me laugh out loud to think of generations of these two families having such similar personality traits that there could possibly be a whole guide written about it. Even funnier still was Jamie's father responds with at 12-page document just of this sort.

Do you think families have such definable attributes? Do you take after your parents? Do your kids take after you? How would you define your family traits?

It's funny, my husband JUST asked me yesterday if I thought our three kids followed behavioral patterns of me and my two brothers. Is our oldest like my oldest brother? Yes. Bossy, independent, creative, not very tidy, prefers friends. My middle child like my middle brother? Also yes. Big heart, thinks of others, shy, loves staying with family instead of friends. Youngest like me? Jury is out. Will she be stubborn, a learner, a writer, a musician, a loyal friend?

Our family is very musical and I do find that the apple has not fallen far from the tree on that one. A lot of musical gifts are sprouting and it is exciting to see.

I do take after my mom in that we are very intuitive, especially first thing in the morning. That's when we get our a-ha moments. And at night we sometimes can't sleep with all the things that we are thinking about. But we are different in one way: she does not like company. I love when people come over for a visit.

I see many similar traits among the kids in our families. Brings up many questions of nature vs. nurture. I know I have certain quirks that my Grandmother had and it tickles me when I notice!

I recently went to a cousin's funeral in another part of the country. I hadn't seen some of the other family members in about ten years. One night, while sitting around the dinner table, one relative said to me "I am sorry if I am staring at you but you have so many of your father's expressions and mannerisms, it is like he is here with us." We all got teary-eyed. Dad has been gone 15 years.

My grandma often comments about “that look” that her kids all inhereited from their father’s side of the family, and just this morning my 2yo gave me that look, and it made me smile to think of the similarities in the generations.

Yes, I think families pass on traits quite a bit.
Don't we all "become our mothers"? I'm closing in on 40 and see and hear my mother every day. She doesn't have bangs because it makes her look like her mother. I have bangs to look less like HER!
My oldest daughter has qualities that match her grandfather. My second daughter has an analytical brain like my husband.

A friend of mine has one of those stories about being adopted and then finding out that everyone in her family of origin is also in the medical field somehow.

Far more, I think, when you're famous family and are known and expected by the public to be a certain way, there can be a desire to keep up appearances.

I find families to have all sorts of similarities. My in-laws claims they have genetically passed cheeks (which is to say jowls). I think their pain tolerance (or complete lack thereof) is a stronger trait.

Personalitywise, my son takes after me in so many ways-- from being a homebody to OCD tendencies.