Is your household made up of two extreme personalities: the introvert verses the extrovert?

Is your household made up of two extreme personalities: the introvert verses the extrovert?

Growing up I would say that in our family of four, two of us were ambiverts while two of us were more introverted. That dynamic tended to make our house more quiet as when were together we would tend to defer to more solitary activities or quieter shared activities like watching movies, reading and listening to music. It made for a very calm and overall atmosphere. When my father and I needed a bit of action we would go out and seek it at friends or with organized activities. Sometimes tensions would rise when my dad would bug my mom to be more social or play, however, these moments were short lived.

Presently with the COVID pandemic and our close quarters at home, sensitivity to each other’s needs is paramount. There are two books for parents to support parental empathy. When I was teaching I read the book Quiet by Susan Cain. As an extrovert in need of quiet time and struggles with being shy, this book confirmed what I knew in my heart, I am an ambivert. It is a great read to challenge one’s perceptions of introverts and extroverts. It sensitizes us to how difficult it must be to live in our crazy intense world if you are an extrovert.

The second book I’d highly recommend is The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron. I had purchased this book years ago when raising my children as I was blessed with two highly sensitive kids and both were opposite one and extrovert (large, in charge and dramatic) and the other an introvert (quietly dramatic and stubborn, a negotiator, a leader from behind).

How did we find a cooperative middle ground for our two very different boys? We traveled a fair bit plus both boys were in sports. On the rare occasion played games at home but the place where games were often played was at the cottage. If I had to do it over, I would be spending more time playing board, card and word games. They are a great way of unifying and bonding the family and platform for family members to really understand each other’s personalities in a non-threatening manner. What better way then laugh, learn and play!

Dazzle’s Challenge: I challenge you to devote time to playing a game once a week at dinnertime or during shared free time.

Quick Take Away Links:

Introvert and Extroverts

https://www.heysigmund.com/raising-introverted-child-extroverted-world/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolution-the-self/201901/is-it-easier-or-harder-parent-introverted-child

https://introvertdear.com/news/introverted-kids-mistakes-extroverted-parents-make/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2016/04/26/9-signs-that-youre-an-ambivert/#35c1c7713145

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8520610-quiet.

playing with words

https://www.servicescape.com/blog/21-ways-to-play-with-words

for children

https://nildcanada.org/flying-around-with-words/