Response t o Sarah

Children can have a huge impact on their parents, which in turn, often impacts them.  It is called bidirectionally.  Child-parent relationships are actually a lot more complicated than they are commonly believed to be.  Many people think that the parent influences the development of the child and it is as simple as that.  However, the child, the way the child interacts with his or her siblings, and the way the child interacts with his or her parents affects the way the  parent raises the child.

For example, if a parent's child is difficult and hard to take care of, the parent may be worn down, but be able to endure more.  If the child is easy to take care of, than the parent may be easy going and happier, but unable to handle more difficult situations with the child because they are not used to it.  Also, if a parent's first born child was difficult to care for, than their attitudes towards their second or third born child will be affected by his or her relationship with his/her first child.  The parent may be more strict simply because he/she had to be with the first child.

Question:  Is it possible for a parent to remain unaffected by their children?  Is it possible for children to remain unaffected by their parents- or overcome the effect their parents have had on them?