re: which type of kid would you rather have?

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I would rather my son hit his peak in his 20s and not when he's 15.

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Neither seem like great options.

Mentally strong, faither, humble.

That's what I'm trying to forge at least.

The first type.....but I'd be proud of them either way unless they were a total screw up and got into a lot of trouble with the law.

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I would rather my son hit his peak in his 20s and not when he's 15. The last reunion I went to.. 20year.. It was amazing that most of the so called geeks have successful careers and many of the popular kids ended up doing very little with their lives.

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This. The "jocks" of my day are all reliving the past so bad. Many of the nerds are off being lawyers and doctors and such..

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Hard disrespectful athletic but who sneaks out of his window at night and dabbles in sex pot and alcohol.

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I don't think it is a matter of what I want -- I know the person illustrated above is what I will get.

Nobody wants to parent a douchebag so I'm going with #1.

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athletic

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but makes good grades and is polite

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how about one of these?

Sometimes those soft geeky polite kids can surprise you. They just have to find their niche. A few years ago, my youngest was a shy, intelligent, chubby little 10 yr. old with glasses, asthma, and a stutter. He spent all day inside playing video games, loved to read, got straight A's in school - the typical geeky stereotype. He enjoyed soccer, but was usually the worst kid on the team or close to it. He played 3 or 4 seasons and scored only 2 goals. He played one season of basketball, was afraid to shoot the ball, and only made 2 shots. He expressed interest in karate, but for obvious reasons we were very reluctant to get him started and put it off for over a year. Finally, we let him do a week-long camp at a local Taekwondo school, and he enjoyed it so we signed him up. He loved it, but was VERY limited athletically. However, he picked things up quickly because he was attentive in class, practiced, and was good with memorization. He took a 1st in forms and a 1st in weapons at his first tournament. He really liked the bo staff, so he started doing Extreme Weapons (this is where you make up your own weapons form with "modern" martial arts moves instead of traditional). He was one of the lowest belts in his ring at the next tournament but dominated the ring. Now 4 1/2years later, he's VERY fit and starting to get ripped (and just recently started weight training). He's ranked #1 in the world in his age group in the organization he competes in for the second year in a row. No matter what state we travel to for competition, other kids will come around to have their picture taken with him - and when he steps into the ring to compete, crowds gather to watch. He just turned 15 and he's making up to $300/day teaching seminars, and $50/hr. teaching private lessons.
Not every kid fits into the neat little package that people want to put them in. Kids can surprise you, they just have to discover what suits them. He was the last kid you'd expect to be a martial arts beast. His intelligence is in the 97-99th percentile, and in a few years he's headed to LSU for a degree in Mechanical Engineering. So I'll take the soft, geeky, polite kid with good grades.

I'm going to adopt a Chinese kid and raise him to be a redneck.

math/meth we will see

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Soft geeky anti social but makes good grades and is polite.

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Which is exactly what I have