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One of my favorite rainy-day activities is to try to guess what my children will be like as adults. Active and athletic, or quiet and academic? Good with their hands or with their words? Homebodies or travelers?

One of the most significant personality traits is, of course, introversion vs. extroversion. Rain Dog and I are both introverts. Being around too many people for too long drains us; we prefer parties of five (including us) or less.

When Hamlet started showing signs of extroversion, we joked, "Two negatives make a positive." But the difference is obvious, the way Hamlet draws energy from people and crowds rather than seek to escape at a certain point. In fact, this has become more obvious as we get to know Boris. He's a happy baby, smiley and sociable as most babies are. With one major difference: he seems to need to decompress after social events, the way Hamlet never did.

How can we tell? He screams most of the way home after such events. Regardless of whether he has napped. And despite efforts to calm him (music, talking, stroking the top of his head).

What's the point of all this? Far from thoughts to pass the time, this one of the most important aspects of parenting for me. How are my children like me? How are they different? What's the best way I can find to relate to them, help calm their fears and express their desires? It won't take the Keirsey Temperament Sorter so much as it will careful observation and communication.