One of the adult sessions at China Heritage Camp was about the things that make emotional connections more challenging. It was a mish-mosh of attachment issues, post-institutionalized behaviors, brain chemistry, and temperament.On the list above, about temperament, the speaker asked us to mark where we were on the continuum above the line and where our child(ren) were below the line. On just about every measure, Zoe was on one extreme, Maya was on the other extreme, and I was in the middle (My mom did us all, too, and her answers aligned with mine pretty well).
Yep, that's pretty much how we live! Consider something as simple as a walk in the park -- there's Zoe, way ahead, and Maya, lagging way behind, and there's me in the middle, saying, "Zoe, slow down! Maya, speed up!" Sigh.
So where do you and your child(ren) fall?
Very interesting. I can see how this would apply to spouses as well, what a great tool to better understand the individual and family dynamic.
ReplyDeleteI'd have to say R encompasses the left-hand side of that chart! Do you feel my tired 'pain'? Heh.
ReplyDeleteInteresting... my kids are pretty different from each other. I, too, have one who lags behind and one who runs in front, while I'm in the middle. But there are some aspects where we are all similar (e.g., shyness), and some where my kids are similar (e.g., low frustration tolerance) and I am different, or where I am like one of them and the other is different.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the chart would work better if they made all the lines the same length.
Sue (aka anonymous)