We are currently at Suzuki Camp #2. I flew in Sunday night
from a conference in Colorado, (I could spend a whole month of blog posts on
being a mom at a conference on education) and have been trying not to work, but
grades are due tomorrow and there are those emails to respond to for journal
editing, etc.
Anyway, today there was a special session titled
“Personality types: How they affect practicing with your child.” I had planned
to go by myself, but after joking with Emery that I was going to learn some
secrets about being a parent, he decided he wanted to go with me.” In a story
best not recounted here, Victor wound up going.
Basically, our teacher (who based her presentation off
several research studies and presentations—it was like being at another
conference session) asked us (the parents) to group ourselves according to
their personalities: Artisan, Idealist, Guardian, and Rational. I turned out to
be a Guardian. I love lists, charts, like helping people (which I do incessantly
and probably annoy people with it) am sensitive to negative criticism, and
knowing what the exact steps are for praise.
I was certain Emery was an Artisan—they don’t like endless
repetition, enjoy stimulation, and like to show off.
I was wrong.
He and Victor are both Rational—they like asking
questions, don’t respond well to charts, and ask “’Why’ in order to have the reason”
(just demonstrated by my son who asked my husband why he was setting up the music
stand). That explains why when the instructor went around the room, I expressed
frustration with my practices with Emery and Victor smugly said he had no troubles.
How could I have been so misled?
Of course, this information would have been helpful 5 or so
years ago, and I guess I already knew some of this stuff (he was never motivated
by the infamous one hundred days of practice chart), but it’s nice knowing now how
to proceed. And, it’s nice that Emery was there because he kind of understands why I do things they way I do.
And, of course, we now have our inside jokes, especially about
Victor who thinks the whole session was a Harry Potter sorting scene and is calling
me a Hufflepuff and who said to me a few minutes ago
“Guardian doesn’t mean appreciated.”
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