One of the gifts of having more than one child is that you get to learn there is complexity and variety in human genes. It is amazing how the same two people can produce such distinguishing characteristics in children. Intensity, activity level, sensitivity, regularity, adaptability, mood, persistence, distractability and approach/withdraw are the 9 characteristics that make up our temperaments (GreatSchools Staff, 2018). You see this variety all the time, every day. When your children runs into the bedroom to clean the room and seems to walk out making more of a mess then when they started, you are seeing a sign of their temperament. When your child spends 15 minutes working at opening a package of toilet paper, you are seeing temperament. When your child's tone and voice raises high above the sound barrier because you...(fill in the blank with any number of daily experiences), you are observing temperament. When you ask your child to put on his shoes and you accomplish a dozen things to get yourself out the door and you return and one shoe is on, you are observing temperament.
In all of it, we must remember our children's temperaments are who they are. We cannot change it. What we can do however is help guide and strengthen their awareness of their unique selves. As they (and as we) come to become aware of their temperaments we are likely to have less moments of temper, and more moments in connection with one another. So... when you are at your wits end, and your hair is shredded across the living room floor and THEN you find your child repeatedly dipping toilet paper into the toilet bowl, rolling it into balls and sticking it on top of the counter...remember temperament. References: GreatSchools Staff. (November 25, 2018), Your child's temperament: 9 basic traits to consider. Accessed from www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/temperament-traits/.
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AuthorJeremy David Freeman lives in Minnesota with his wife Sarah. They have six kids (Adelynn, Peter, Benjamin, Paul, Mark and Samuel) and together enjoy the simple things of life: gardening, writing, sewing, baking and woodworking. Archives
April 2024
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