TRAILER: Not So Normal Parenting: Strengthen Family Connections With Insights From Myers Briggs and the Enneagram

Ever find yourself wondering if your child's behavior is normal? Some personality types don’t respond to traditional parenting. This could be why you are feeling stressed and uncertain how to handle their sibling rivalry, explosive tantrums, disorganization, picky eating, impulsivity, sleep problems, low empathy, high sensitivity or fill in the blank.  Maybe you and your partner don’t feel as close as you once did. Due to all the crazy, you may have lost sight of the connection that brought you together? Are you struggling to identify the God given strengths in your child, connect with your child and be on the same page with your partner? Are you praying for a way to finally relax and feel assured that you are parenting your child in a way that will bring out the best in them?

 

I understand the journey and have asked these very questions many many many times myself. Both my kids fall outside of the norm. My son is a highly sensitive feeler who broke his arm in band and cross country…not once, but twice! I bet you didn’t realize that band and cross country could be hazardous! He struggled with sensory processing disorder, OCD, anxiety and ADHD. My daughter, on the other hand, is a highly logical thinker, who enjoyed decapitating her American Girl dolls, riding a scooter through the neighborhood with a live chicken on the handlebars and refusing to eat anything unless it was a Cheezit, goldfish or chicken nugget. She struggled with low empathy, low grades and ADHD. I am not normal either, which you will discover if you Google “mom embarrasses son by dancing in a blizzard, on the Interstate to the Backstreet Boys.” If you are familiar with the Myers Briggs system I am an ENFJ and if the Enneagram is your jam, I am a type 1 to 1 type 4 wing 3.  Although I do hold a Master’s degree in education and work as a team building coach, these credentials did not help when it came to managing my own family team and parenting my daughter who is opposite of me in every way and nothing like anyone else in the family. It felt as though she had been beamed down to us from another planet. This is why my understanding extends to parents in blended and adoptive families, where the process of getting to know your new child can be its own unique challenge and feel anything but normal!

 

There was no user manual for my daughter. Every parenting book I picked up didn’t seem to fit. By the time she was five years old, I felt like I was yelling at her more than I was being positive. She was a tornado of orneryness, very blunt with her negative opinions and she didn’t know how to show appreciation or affection. When I looked at her, all I could see were her weaknesses and I was worried that if I didn’t turn things around and figure out how to reframe the way I saw her, I was going to ruin our relationship and damage her self-esteem. To make matters worse, my son was super easy to understand and parent. She was already commenting on how he was the good kid and she was the bad kid. As I was using Myers Briggs and the Enneagram in my career as a team building coach and educator, I realized these tools could be powerful for helping family teams.  I set out to study child personality patterns and began crafting a best-selling book called "Your Child’s Inner Drive: Parenting by Personality from Toddlers to Teens." Its packed with helpful tools, discipline techniques, and over two hundred real-life case studies from families sharing their unique stories about children of all sixteen personality types. To my surprise, my not so normal kids fell into normalized categories. As it turns out, they were acting perfectly normal for their personality types.  I've also developed a brain mapping system that is equal to a QEEG map of the brain. If you have ever wanted to take a peek into your child’s head to understand why on earth they just threw a perfectly delicious ice cream cone up against the wall, now you can!  With each family member, including your partner, you can pinpoint what is causing the disconnect and figure out solutions.

 

My goal is to help you grow and learn about yourself so you are able to differentiate your identity from that of your children. Children act out when they don’t feel seen. As soon as I realized how my daughter’s brain was wired, I was able to recognize the strengths I had mistaken for weaknesses. What seemed like an unappreciative, apathetic attitude, was logic and independence. I want to help you see your kids far beyond just WHAT they are doing to truly understanding WHY they are doing it.

 

On The Not So Normal Parenting podcast will we will discuss how your child's unique brain wiring can provide you with valuable understanding through every stage of their development from the toddler years all the way through to adulthood.

 

• You will learn about all elements of personality through teaching as well as stories from families representing all sixteen Myers Briggs types and 9 Enneagram types to gain a crystal-clear FOCUS for understanding one another and forming appropriate expectations.
• Through the insights I have gained by working with thousands of personality patterns and conversations with experts in the not-so-normal you will develop a solid FRAMEWORK for building up their best qualities. We will discuss education, discipline, extracurricular activities, relationships and more.
• Have you ever wished you had a crystal ball to see what the adult version of your child would be like? Enjoy interviews with Adult Temperament Twins of your child's personality type as well as hearing personality data to help you sketch a detailed FORECAST for encouraging them in their future development.
• Discover your own type and parenting FLAVOR to gain self-awareness and encouragement so you can be a better spouse, friend, family member and coach for your child.

The Harvard business journal states that the number one quality of a leader is self- awareness. A parent is a leader! This podcast will help you and your partner appreciate how you complement each so you can effectively lead your children to become the best version of themselves and lead your family team to be connected and harmonious.

 

Website:  Get FREE resources at WendyGossett.com

Get a FREE Child Temperament Test when you join my Not So Normal Parenting Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/notsonormalparenting

Book: Your Child's Inner Drive:Parenting by Personality from Toddlers to Teens on Amazon or  https://wendygossett.com/product/your-childs-inner-drive-parenting-by-personality-for-toddlers-to-teens/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaaOCjoDyOk4_gS1KCncLvQ

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