The absolutely brilliant thread here:
https://www.nthcircle.com/forum/general/1879-potato-pay#28414
Brought something to mind for me.
It may be amusing and/or worthy of discussion (or neither ??).
For decades I was friends in a very on-again...off-again manner with a woman who'd had a very bad start in life which had left her very affected whilst also very determined NOT to raise her children so roughly (an admirable ambition, yes ??).
During all that time the poor dear 1st had a boy child by a man in her home state who didn't stick around; then about 6 years later had a daughter with another man hundreds of miles from there.
That man was a dedicated alcoholic and openly disdainful to the point of actual abuse with the child that was not 'his'.
Before it could get any worse she struck off on her own to raise her offspring as a single parent.
(Very admirable to be so protective, yes ??)
A bit of background:
Mom's eating habits when last I knew most resembled those of a 'spoiled' 10 year old kid (as long as that kid was provided regularly with lots of chocolate, was a smoker & also consumed alcohol on a semi-regular basis).
She firmly avoided forcing her kids to eat anything that they said they didn't want - which resulted in the boy growing up super-sized vs. the girl being a skinny little twig.
When the kids reached (what passes for...) adulthood, still dependent upon parental support and often making use of the big house mom kept so that they could do so - and while mom's body failed her in ways that caused painful mobility issues - in our often harsh Vermont winters their true natures really became obvious...
As they sat inside, comfy & warm - refusing to move an ounce of snow while mom painfully did it all.
(Such things as shovels, brooms & mops are for the servants, not for the delicate hands of royalty !!)
My final observation of that family leads me to conclude how those children turned out to be the most wonderfully, totally self-motivated, selfish, self-centered brats imaginable - but that is just my opinion and utterly unworthy of consideration because in their mom's eyes they could do no wrong & were glowing representations of her marvelous parenting skills.
So wrapping this up:
2 very different children from 2 very different & distant fathers with both turning out 'spoiled rotten' despite their rather different genetic background...
Nature, nurture, both - or neither ?!?
Thanks for sharing that marvelous video mentioned above PA345NH !!!