So you're wondering how these kids could be related to you? One of them is a compulsive neat freak and the other thinks they're the life of the party and you are neither of those things.
We assume our kids will react like we did when we were their age. As a result of this assumption we struggle and fight to get them to “perform” as we would in this journey we call LIFE.
If we’re not careful we make assumptions about our children concerning how they should react in certain situations. If you have more than one child already, then you most likely have discovered that each one reacts to life in different ways. you see it in sleep patterns, how they respond to authority, what and how they eat, how they play with other kids and how they put their toys away…or how they DON’T!
I remember how powerful it was in my marriage when I learned that my wife didn’t see or react to things in the same way that I did. I’m off the chart optimistic and she is more on the cautious, steady side of life. I’m a risk taker, but her…not so much. As our four children came along we realized that none of them were alike either.
While I had been teaching personality traits and how to “get along” with each other it all came together for my parenting skills when we read a little book called, The Treasure Tree, by John Trent and Gary Smalley. In the book the four personality types are demonstrated by the animal kingdom…the Lion, the Otter, the Beaver and the Golden Retriever. It was truly an “ah-Ha” moment for us.
Since then I have used those animals in my parenting seminars as well as our marriage seminars and in the business team-building sessions we offer. But you didn’t download this to hear about all of that…YOU want to figure out how to understand and shape the distinctly different children that you have!