Why is it only my kids?

When it comes to genetic similarity I would think cousins would be pretty dang close.  But somehow, on the Wray side of the family, I'm finding that my kids and my siblings' kids have less in common than I would expect.  On Friday night I had a front-row seat in viewing more of the differences as I spent the evening with Dan and Amy's kids.

First of all, Kai and Addie are very gentle creatures.  They are cooperative and sweet and quiet.  They love to just spend time giggling together -- Addie follows Kai everywhere.  Sometimes my kids can be sweet, sometimes cooperative, and they are quiet while they're sleeping....  but the similarities might end there.

One of the main differences, noticeable right when I walked into their house, was how neat and organized everything is!  I realize a lot of this must be attributed to Amy, as she is clearly a better manager of stuff  than I am.  I wanted to take pictures of the various spots throughout the house -- like the nice, clean little shoe bin (on the counter!) -- to show the great contrast between our houses (our shoe "area" is a sprawling jungle of mismatched, muddy, non-fitting footwear).  But I felt like taking photos might be overstepping my bounds as a babysitter, so I (mostly) refrained.

But somehow their kids also have been born with the organizational skill hard-wired in!  As I was putting Kai to bed, he looked around his spotless floor and noticed a little flashlight.  "That belongs in Sissy's room," he said, "I should go put that back!"  This is beyond fathomable for me, the mother of four children, all of whom were hard-wired from birth to walk into any room, pick up any object not bolted to the floor, carry it out of the room, and drop it on the floor elsewhere.

But the real moment when I realized just how different these cousins are occurred while we were in the playroom.  (And here I couldn't resist taking some pictures because.... ) 

Kai was proudly showing me all of his tools,

and then I realized that THESE very sharp items were right in the mix!

-- in a house where a 17-month old toddler lives!  As well as a BOY!

 In my house, these would have been swallowed, poked in an eye, put in a sibling's ears, nose or throat, choked on, or used as a stabbing implement or some other (unimaginable by me) weapon.  Not to mention all of the furntiure, walls, appliances and floors that would been ruined by a small person with these such things in their hands.

This discovery in their playroom reminded me of another scene I encountered at the home of a different sibling who shall remain nameless (Karin).  This was the house in which they kept their liquor inventory on the floor of the dining room (with THREE young children in the home!). 

Apparently none of those cousins-to-my-kids ever thought to mess with any of the bottles (!!!)... but as soon as I brought my brood over, guess what was going on within mere minutes...

So after seeing the playrooms full of sharp implements and alcohol at my siblings homes, I'm left to wonder how MY kids are so different from their innocent cousins.  How did the Wray family tree become so varied?

I credit the in-laws.