I am not a Type A. I’m probably more of a Type B personality and tend to go with the flow. As the stay at home, it dictates how we do things. We’re meandering explorers. Every situation reveals an opportunity to insert a lesson. We take them as they come. What I fear is that my toddler will grow up to be a Type A and I will not know how to properly feed his innate sense of drive and forward momentum.

But being a Type B doesn’t mean being boring or passive, just like being a Type A doesn’t mean being an A-hole.

I’m a Type A, but I find when it comes to parenting, I tend to somehow morph into a Type B. In normal life, I can’t handle curve balls, but when it comes to my kids, I’m very easy-going for whatever reason. I have goals for myself and for my daughter, but I’m much more flexible in meeting them. Maybe because my Unstoppable Force met an Immovable Object in the form of family stubbornness in my daughter. She gets it from me, so I can’t really complain. lol. It did, however, help me mellow out a bit when it came to expecting Rosie to be one-the-dot developmentally. As for her own personality, she’s also a type A. It should be interesting as she grows up, seeing how our two very different (so far) type-A personalities clash.

I am type A and my husband is type B. I start the day with a plan and goals for things i want to accomplish and it stresses me out if I don’t get to them all. A good example is a typical trip to the mall. I go, knowing I want to go in store A,B, and C and get items 1, 2, and 3. So as soon as we get in the mall, I want to get those items and stores knocked out. I cannot relax and enjoy just looking around.d until that is done. I get angst and frustrated, but my husband is the type who wants to stop in at some random store along the way. I try to rush him out and he’s tries to tell me to relax, we’ll get there, blah blah blah… I can’t help it. I try to turn it off and I wish I wasn’t like that because I get so stressed out. I can feel my blood pressure rising, but that’s just how I work. And i tend to get more done, although, i’ll give it to the hubby. He gets the important things done and always in a timely manner. I get so stressed out when things don’t go smoothly, that I love being able to count on his more relaxed personality to take care of things like trips to the DMV.

I am a type B person and so is my son. Sometimes i feel that my lack of the type A personality “hurts” him… He doesnt seem to care if anything gets done… Bribes do not work on him if he doesnt want to do something, nothing is going to make him. it turns into a meltdown….i know that your personality is who you are and its hard to change that but are there any tips to being more of a type A person? … i feel like if we dont work on this he may have issues in school like i did.

I just have to say – Welcome to Babble. You’re awesome. Love your posts! Also? This may be the single best title of a post in the history of ever.

@Chris – very glad you made the point about Type B’s not being boring and passive just as A’s are not A-holes. The stereotype goes both ways and neither are right.

@CreativeHomestead – ooo, yeah, reminding people to do stuff bugs me too. Thanks about being self-aware, although, admittedly it’s a kind of self-awareness in the same vein as I’m aware there’s blood coming from my foot because I keep shooting myself there. :-)

@JenniferM – You just made me think about the clashes I have coming when my A kids turn into teens in the very near future.

@Stacey – Funny how priority situations push us into that role. On work stuff I’m more Type A but on stuff at home I’m more Type B unless I’m pushed into a deadline like that.

@Pam – Great comment. You reminded me of how I have to act more Type B with my wife (who’s a B). It helps mellow her out when it comes to shopping or rushing somewhere. I have to do this consciously though, otherwise, if I act Type A on her, it works her into a frenzy and sometimes results in a panic attack.

@Tiffany – Thanks for sharing your situation. You’ll have to forgive me as I don’t have any specific tips. Much of the successes I’ve had have been a matter of trial and error. I did however come across this article and it offered some great perspective on the topic: http://life.familyeducation.com/child-psychology/personality-development/40418.html

@Stephanie That’s a really great illustration of finding that balance between who you are and who your kids are and what works best for everyone, Thanks

@JulieMiner – Oh gosh, thank you. I’m blushing.

@Yvette – My hats off to single moms. My wife was forced to be one almost from day one, and so I have the utmost respect for moms (and dads) in that situation. She’s a Type B, and after I read your comment it made me think about all the stories she’s told me where she had to be a Type A person just to make things work for her and her kids.

Im a Type A personality with Type B tendancies. I’m currently 9 months pregnant with our first so I don’t know how that will play out but it definitely affects the classroom I teach in. Over the years I have had to learn to be more go-with-the-flow and to make experiences fun and interesting to reach my class of Specual Needs high schoolers. While I was always motivated for school work just because it needed to get done, a majority of my high schoolers could care less. To get them to do or learn anything I’ve had to adapt, make games or activities do they try and I realized that if they learn, then it’s ok that things take longer or don’t always go as I planned. I hope the skills I’ve learned as a teacher help me raise my little one.