Mothering Types

Your type is: entp —The “Independence” Mother
“When I held my babies, I always faced them outward so they could take in the world.”
Full of energy and confident in her own self-sufficiency and competence, the ENTP mother encourages her children—as a role model and as a teacher—to be independent and confident on their own in the world.
A “big picture” person, she points out options and possibilities along the way. Objective and logical as well, the ENTP wants her children to evaluate their choices and learn from the consequences of their own decisions.
The ENTP mother is resourceful and action-oriented. She likes going places and doing things with her children, exploring all that life has to offer. She is less concerned with rules, routines, and schedules. Introducing her children to new concepts and activities, challenging them, and stimulating their intellectual development are top priorities.

Quiz is here.

I found this moderately interesting; it's just the standard Meyers-Briggs typing applied to parenting styles. Of course it makes everyone sound good, so we can all be happy Being Ourselves. But then, there's plenty of Mommy Guilt going around, anyway, so that's probably just as well. It also annoys me when people use "I'm not a mother-type" as an excuse either not to have children or not to raise them personally. (Note: I am NOT encouraging psychopaths to have children.)

I am definitely not a stereotypical good mother. I do not drop everything to kiss their boo-boos, unless I see actual blood, and then I'm certainly not going to kiss it. Eww. I do not bathe them daily. I clean the house sporadically and usually am missing several necessary items. I just finished sewing a skirt, no doubt at severe damage to D2's psyche, who kept waking up from his nap just as I had the machine threaded, the fabric pinned, and everything lined up.

But I am good at a few things. I take them outside all the time. I find them new "toys" constantly (mostly in my kitchen cupboards and the mailbox). I talk about things with them, show them new things, read them lots of books. I step back and wait for them to figure things out for themselves. And I think I'm taking enough care of them that they will survive to adulthood with their bodies and souls relatively intact. So it's OK; I don't need to hand them off to someone else who's nicer or more organized. God meant for them to be my kids and me to be their mother.

There's no quiz for fathers, who do not angst about such things, but I think you can just change the pronouns. DOB definitely sounds like the "Individual Integrity" father. (INTJ)