My 15 year old is a total Type B, and I'm classic Type A

[Anonymous]

Give me some tips to parent him productively! Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I'll bite. My parents are A and brother is B. Helpful things I saw from them:

- They kept their standards high but didn't expect perfection. If they knew he was struggling in a subject or not terribly interested, a B was adequate. Not below, however.

- They worked to find things that -did- interest him, b/c those he excelled at. They put up with drums for years, tons of sports, finally figured out he enjoyed reading non-fiction, etc.

- They appreciated the strengths of his B-ness. He's always been super social and fostered many quality relationships throughout the years, including with them. He's kind. He takes an interest in others. He volunteers in areas where he has knowledge. He's patient with kids.

- They made him take responsibility for his actions. He only worked when he needed money and he spent it pretty freely. But they didn't provide him with more than the necessities. Whenever his B-ness caused destruction (gear left in the rain, fender-benders, etc), he was solely responsible for making things right. But they weren't punitive.

Hope this helps some!

[Anonymous]

I am a type B and so is DH. Our 16 year old DD is a total type A and a perfectionist. It is difficult to reconcile the natural differences between DD and us. We have learned over the years to use her criteria for things that matter to her and not ours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll bite. My parents are A and brother is B. Helpful things I saw from them:

- They kept their standards high but didn't expect perfection. If they knew he was struggling in a subject or not terribly interested, a B was adequate. Not below, however.

- They worked to find things that -did- interest him, b/c those he excelled at. They put up with drums for years, tons of sports, finally figured out he enjoyed reading non-fiction, etc.

- They appreciated the strengths of his B-ness. He's always been super social and fostered many quality relationships throughout the years, including with them. He's kind. He takes an interest in others. He volunteers in areas where he has knowledge. He's patient with kids.

- They made him take responsibility for his actions. He only worked when he needed money and he spent it pretty freely. But they didn't provide him with more than the necessities. Whenever his B-ness caused destruction (gear left in the rain, fender-benders, etc), he was solely responsible for making things right. But they weren't punitive.

Hope this helps some!

This is helpful. Thank you for posting!

[Anonymous]

Glad it helped!

Brother wound up making it through a tough undergrad program, MBA at an ivy, fearlessly chased internships along the way, and was really savvy about choosing his first post-grad job. He really bears out all those studies that the Type B middle children born-networkers excel in their careers much more than the Type A rule followers.

Good luck!