Adapt Your Parenting To Fit Your Child

Not all of your children are going to be the same, so you should never try and parent them in the same way.  You need to keep in mind your child's temperament, personality, and development in order to parent in the most effective way.  In President Boyd K. Packer's October 1977 General Conference address entitled "The Balm of Gilead" he states, ""There is another part of us, not so tangible, but quite as real as our physical body.  This intangible part of us is described as mind, emotion, intellect, temperament, and many other things. Very seldom is it described as spiritual. But there is a spirit in man; to ignore it is to ignore reality." You cannot ignore the diverse facets of all your children.  You have to be sensitive to them and willing to change your parenting styles for them.

Steinberg suggests, "Don't try to refashion your child's disposition...Your child is who he is in part because he was born that way, and you and he are just going to have to learn how to adapt to his nature" (Steinberg, p. 71).

Accepting and loving your children no matter what their temperaments are is key to good parenting.  One of the things we talked about in regards to temperament was the Big 5.  There is a personality test you can take that will measure different facets of your personality and will give you a better idea of your own temperament.  These are my results:

THE BIG 5 PERSONALITY TEST

Your Results
Closed-Minded		Open to New Experiences
Disorganized		Conscientious
Introverted		Extraverted
Disagreeable		Agreeable
Calm / Relaxed		Nervous / High-Strung

Openness to Experience/Intellect
	High scorers tend to be original, creative, curious, complex; Low scorers tend to be conventional, down to earth, narrow interests, uncreative.
		You are relatively open to new experiences.	(Your percentile: 65)
Conscientiousness
	High scorers tend to be reliable, well-organized, self-disciplined, careful; Low scorers tend to be disorganized, undependable, negligent.
		You are neither organized or disorganized.	(Your percentile: 58)
Extraversion
	High scorers tend to be sociable, friendly, fun loving, talkative; Low scorers tend to be introverted, reserved, inhibited, quiet.
		You probably enjoy spending quiet time alone.	(Your percentile: 9)
Agreeableness
	High scorers tend to be good natured, sympathetic, forgiving, courteous; Low scorers tend to be critical, rude, harsh, callous.
		You are neither extremely forgiving nor irritable.	(Your percentile: 44)
Neuroticism
	High scorers tend to be nervous, high-strung, insecure, worrying; Low scorers tend to be calm, relaxed, secure, hardy.
		You are generally relaxed.	(Your percentile: 37)