Clarity!

In answer to Val's question about which books I bought, they are:

1. Personality Plus For Parents: Understanding What Makes Your Child Tick by Florence Littauer
2. Families Where Grace is in Place by Jeff VanVonderen
3. How to Really Parent Your Child by Ross Campbell
4. A Mom's Guide to Making Memories Last by Crystal Bowman

I'm in the middle of the first one about personalities and wow! I'm shocked to see how correct they are. I'm not only learning to identify what my kids are (particularly Ella) and how to relate to her, I'm learning a lot about myself. About my strengths, my weaknesses and my reactions. I'm recognizing that the things I've ridiculed and berated myself for, the things I'm ashamed about with my personality, the places I've felt like a failure, are all part of my make up and they are not to be viewed in a demeaning light. I can take stock of my weaknesses and I can keep them in balance, but they are not products of a horrible person. Anyone who has the same personality type as me would understand and deal with the same areas (for interest sake, I'm a Sanguine/Phlegmatic). So freeing! I've realized why I struggle in certain areas and why Ella and I butt heads so often. We both have the same dominant personality, but different secondary personalities (She's a Sanguine/Choleric).

I strongly recommend this book if you have kids. If you don't have kids, get the Personality Plus: How to Understand Others by Understanding Yourself. It will give you permission to be yourself, while learning to recognize the inherent strengths and weaknesses that go along with who you are, as well as learning why you do and don't get along with certain people in your life.