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What's Your Mothering Personality

From MotherStyles, by Janet P. Penley

When it comes to your parenting style, are you introverted or extraverted? Do you sense or intuit information? Do you make judgments by thinking or feeling?

Take this quiz to discover your parenting style, and then find out how to use your unique strengths to raise your kids the best way you can.

For each of the following characteristics, select the number that best describes how you relate to that point:

  • 0 - This does not describe me at all.
  • 1 - This describes me somewhat.
  • 2 - This describes me well.
  • Extraversion or Introversion
  • Sensing or Intuitive
  • Thinking or Feeling
  • Judging or Perceiving
0 1 2 I excel at:
Getting out and taking young children along to experience the world.
Being observant of and reflective about your children in an effort to know each child in depth.
Encouraging your children not to overextend by providing the time and space for a child's "down-time."
Providing your children with opportunities to be with people.
Respecting and understanding a child's need for time alone.
Teaching your children the importance of social skills and graces, so they can get along in the world.
Respecting a child who's not one of the crowd.
Enjoying casual conversations with children; feeling free to ask them questions.
Providing a quiet and calming presence (although inside you may not feel calm).
Connecting with and tuning in to the world beyond home; being "in the know" when it comes to community, school, volunteer organizations, and the neighborhood.
Tuning out distractions, concentrating on one child or one thing at a time.
Providing the spark to get things going and keep things moving; serving as an example of get-up-and-go.
Limiting extraneous involvements to focus more exclusively on your family.
Connecting with the people and high energy of large family gatherings.
Standing back and watching your children be active and interact on their own.

Next: I struggle with

0 1 2 I struggle with:
Being isolated at home with babies and preschoolers.
Being focused outward on children and the tasks at hand - beyond your natural limits.
Tuning out social and other external expectations.
Conflicts between the need to tune out distractions and the family's need to interact.
Worrying whether your children have enough friends and/or activities.
Handling a large family or large groups of people.
Overextending: Not limiting your children's and your own involvement to meaningful activities.
Finding the energy to maintain the pace of active young children and adolescents.
Respecting a child's personal space; not being intrusive.
Responding "on the spot" to children's unexpected requests; not having the time you need to think things through.
Listening rather than talking; not dominating a conversation with a child.
Being as emotionally or cognitively accessible to your children as you think you should be.
Understanding, accepting, or encouraging a child's need for alone time, particularly an Introverted child.
Understanding an Extraverted child's need to be on the go with friends and activities and to think out loud.

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Excerpted from MotherStyles: Using Personality Type to Discover Your Parenting Strengths - © 2006 by Janet P. Penley with Diane Eble. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Perseus.

To order this book click here or call 1-800-253-6476.