A while ago I was reading a post on Quinn Cummings’ blog about how some kids are Stay kids and some kids are Go kids. Stay kids are homebodies who will stick close to home as they turn into adults; even if forced to move somewhere for school or work, they’ll put down new, deep roots and refuse to go anywhere else. Go kids are born with the wanderlust in their eye; they’re always looking away for the next big challenge, the next new adventure.
Since I read that post I’ve been thinking a lot about my own kids. Captain Jelly Belly is definitely a Stay. The other day he was helping Sir Monkeypants tidy up after a house project, and Sir Monkeypants showed him where to put the marker he had been using. The Captain said, “It’s a good thing you showed me where we keep these markers, so I will know where to put them when this is my house some day.”
I’m not sure if we are alive or dead in this dream scenario of his — think of it, the markers AND the drawer will all be his — but he’s made it quite clear that he is never moving out, ever. Ever.
Gal Smiley is a bit of a harder read, but I think she is a Stay too. I can tell by the way she gives us hugs — so tight, it’s like she can never be close enough to Sir Monkeypants and me. She is the one who feels responsible for everyone else’s well-being and I think she would worry about us too much if she were off travelling the globe. I think she’d like to have her own place some day, but maybe just the house across the street. With the Captain as her roommate.
I like to think of her taking care of me one day. She’s bound to be a better cook than I am, at the very least.
As for the Little Miss…she’s a Go, for sure. She loves the people, she loves new places. She likes to try new things and be independent and eat exciting new dishes. A day when she doesn’t get to go outside and see something new or meet someone new is a dark, cranky day for her. When we’re out and about, she’s never looking over her shoulder to make sure I am there — she’s always just pushing forward, looking for whatever is coming next.
I miss her already. It’s good to imagine it, though, I think — otherwise I just won’t be prepared for the heartbreak when she announces that she’ll be going to British Columbia for university, or marrying some Australian dude she met while on vacation. Sniff.
Did you Stay, or did you Go? And what do you think your kids will do?
TurtleHead 
Interesting. I think both I and my kids defy your categorization. Though I love them and get along great with them, I don’t feel a need to be close to my parents or siblings. I’m in a different country on the other side of the continent, and perfectly happy here. At the same time, I am a real homebody — I would much rather be at home “inside with all my stuff” than pretty much anywhere else.
Mr Excitement is also a bit of a paradox — he is a real homebody too. Whenever we go out anywhere it’s pretty much a given that at some point he’ll ask to go home, and when we’re at home and ask him if he wants to go somewhere, he always replies “no”. Yet I’m always astonished at how he excitedly runs off when we’re at, say, a mall — he has quite a wide comfort zone and doesn’t seem to feel the need to make sure someone he knows is close by.
Our youngest is only 7 months old, so it’s harder to tell. But right now he is so, literally, wide-eyed at all the world has to offer. He just seems so fascinated by everything he sees, and so willing to crawl over to see it, that seems to suggest that he will be a “Go”. Based on that limited evidence anyway.
And smokingtoaster? Unquestionably, a “Stay”.
I’m a Stay. I like having my family close – although most of them aren’t. I did go away for a while and thought I would stay away but I came back and now I hate it when my parents leave for the winter (snowbirds). My husband is also a Stay. Our daughter is only 8 months old but she seems to be exactly like the 7 month old describe in the previous comment. Maybe it’s an age thing? I don’t know, she’s the only baby I have ever had.
Definitely Stay.
Or at least I really really hope so since she’s our only one.
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I’m a go, my sister is a go and 2 of my brothers are gos. We only had one stay out of 5. My daughter is definitely a stay. She’s 16 and doesn’t like to be home alone. She didn’t want to go to sleepovers until she was 13. She has plans for me living in her basement or something when she has her own place. (Oh boy! I’m actually looking forward to her getting her own place so I can have my own place and maybe go …not too far this time, though)
I’m a Stay, married to a Go, which is how I ended up in Ottawa rather than living in the Maritimes my whole life. Calder’s told me repeatedly that he wants to live with us forever, so I guess that makes him a Stay. And Jake is definitely a Stay, at least so far. He like to be in familiar places with familiar people and clings to me for dear life when we’re someplace where he’s not comfortable.
Neat.
I’m a stay. Bert is a stay. Both of us are still living in the City we grew up in (I delivered my babies in the same hospital as I was born in!). We are definitely home bodies.
My kids are both home bodies I think…they love their bedrooms, to get settled into the house when they get in (change into pjs and pull out their blankets the second they get home), they like things to be the same for the most part…and ask to come home from the cottage!!! But I still think it’s too early to tell if they will be stays or gos, I think people who are Stays can become Gos if they have enough chance to see other parts of the world.
I am a stay, for sure. I did leave my home town but I didn’t go far. I often think about moving and it makes me nervous. My oldest son is a stay for sure. Jury is out on the youngest.