Genes, Genes, Genes!!

I was born and grew up in a large family of six children. Being the number five in my family, I had no place and no say whatsoever. I felt lost most of the time since all the attention would go to either the eldest or the youngest sibling in my family. As a result I became a very shy and introvert child and a teenager. I wanted to change myself so I put my abilities or un-abilities to ultimate test and started teaching teenagers when I was hardly 22 myself. I learnt to camouflage my social anxiety and started looking very confident , but was crumbling from inside all the time. It took my decades to get over most of my demons but I still feel socially inept sometimes.
I wanted my daughter to have a very vibrant and outgoing personality so I decided to raise her very differently. Being the eldest child and the only girl in my family she always basked in our attention. I always encourage her to participate in sports and all other co curricular activities. She happens to be a very attractive, creative and intelligent girl, but, despite all our positive reinforcement, encouragement and undivided attention, she seems to be as shy and introvert as I was at her age. I am not giving up because I don’t want my genes to be a hindrance in my little girl’s reaching her full potential, but I am amazed to see the role that our genes play in shaping our children’s personalities.