Mini-me, or not a mini-me?

It's often been said that my daughter is a mini-me...just a smaller version of me in attitude and personality. Then why do we always butt heads so much?

Well, now I know why. A friend of mine recommended the book "Nurture by Nature" that allows you to find out your child's personality type. I have known mine for several years. I am an ISTJ. For those who aren't geeks like me and love to analyze things like this, it means that I am Introverted-Sensing-Thinking-Judging. The opposite of that is Extroverted-Intuitive-Feeling-Perceiving (ENFP). Myers-Briggs and other temperament tests are available if you want to find yours out as well.

So this morning I crack open the book and start delving into it to pinpoint where my daughter is. Some of them are difficult to ascertain, as she has a lot of different traits in the various categories. So when I think I have determined her temperament and then go to the page that gives an overview of that temperament, it is spot on. My daughter is an ESFP. The exact temperament of my husband! (No wonder we butt heads so much when I now have TWO of them in the house!)

My daughter and I do share a lot of similar qualities, mostly just because she has taken on some of my more, um, not so endearing traits, like the eye-rolling and the snarky attitude. But she truly is an energetic, happy-go-lucky, sensitive and caring child. An ESFP to the core.

While not too surprising to me, I do hope that now that I understand her personality, and knowing that it is just like my husband, I can find ways to help balance out that extra energy and sensitivity in the house. I'm thinking a nice, dark cave...