The Child Whisperer (28 page)

Type 3 children love speed, and they often take to driving quickly. Many Type 3 children generally love anything with an engine. I know of several Type 3 children who want to learn how to drive a snowmobile, or a 4-wheeler, or a motorcycle before they’re even big enough to reach the pedals. Whenever I hear on the news the occasional story of a younger child (about age 9 or 10) taking the family car out for a spin, I think to myself,
It had to be a Type 3!

Child Whisperer Tip:
Type 3 children can be over-confident in their driving skills. When I first learned to drive, I got in an accident the first week I had my license. I am sure my over-confidence was the problem. I felt awful. Rather than punish me, my parents could see my own self-punishment was harsh enough. Before your Type 3 teen gets out on the road, tell them in a reassuring way that you think they will be a great driver and that they need to make sure they don’t get over-confident at first. Support them in learning and gaining experience. I think it’s a good idea to enforce a no-cell-phone policy with your Type 3 teen who is new at driving, regardless of whether or not cell phone laws exist where you drive.

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ANNIE’S STORY

Going Up in Type 3 Flames!

Nine-year-old Annie really wanted an electric scooter for Christmas so she could go faster than on her regular foot-powered scooter. It cost a little more, so her parents told her that she needed to wait. For her birthday, she told everyone in her extended family that she wanted gift cards to Target, where the electric scooter was sold. She received enough money to cover the cost—and more. Leave it to a Type 3 to make things happen.

When Annie went to the store, she found something even better: a new scooter that shot sparks out the back when used. You better believe that Type 3 Annie fell in love with the idea of zooming down the street with fire shooting out behind her!

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Physical Characteristics

Every Type of child moves around. How do you determine if your child is really an active, determined, Type 3 child? Facial features provide one of the most telling ways to identify your child’s dominant Type. Take a look at the list of Type 3 features and then look at your child’s own physical characteristics. Do any of them show up in your child’s face?

Something to remember
: Learning facial profiling for babies and children in a book without pictures or illustrations can be difficult! That is why I have created a library of free videos on my website called, “How to Profile Babies, Children and Teens!” To access this library visit www.thechildwhisperer
.
com.

Face Shape:
Angular facial planes with irregular, asymmetrical hairline. Square or angular jaw, pointed chin, prominent forehead. May have a cleft in the middle of their chin
.

Skin/Skin Texture:
One of the most telling features in Type 3 adult skin is deeper, textured lines, especially around the smile and eyes.

At a very young age, though, Type 3 skin does not exhibit this trait as clearly. Baby fat and youth may make their skin look smoother than it will appear later in their life when it naturally becomes more textured.

What you will notice most in a Type 3 baby’s or child’s skin is irregularity. Type 3 energy is a higher, more textured movement, which will express itself in your child’s skin as irregularities in pigment or in texture. Some Type 3 children exhibit dry patches on their skin, or you may notice several irregularly placed birthmarks, moles, or spots on their body. As they grow, these children can be prone to acne. Type 3 teenagers might try to eliminate the texture from their skin with products that ultimately won’t work. Help your child recognize that their naturally textured skin is just a feature of their body, not a flaw.

Cheeks:
You will see various forms of triangles on the cheeks and in or around the mouth.

It may be tricky to tell at first, as babies are generally known for chubby cheeks.

Nose:
Angular, beak, lump of clay, triangular nostrils that flare when reacting strongly to something

Eyes:
Come to a point in the inside of the eye or outside corners

Might be described as cat-shaped, with the outer corner located slightly higher than the inner corner. Angles in the lid area can create an exotic look.

Eyebrows:
Even as babies, Type 3 eyebrows come to a peak somewhere after the middle of the eye.

If you drew a line connecting both eyebrows, it would look like a wide V-shape.

Hands:
Rectangular shaped fingers, rough and knobby texture, with wide knuckles

Early Childhood Features:
One of the most telling features for Type 3 babies and toddlers is what I call the “Type 3 scowl.”

This is the furrowing or wrinkling of their forehead between the eyebrows. Both of my Type 3 grandchildren, Joseph and Katie, exhibited this characteristic from the first day of their lives
.
Add the classic Type 3 growl to the scowl and you can be sure your baby is a determined little one.

Body Language

Since Energy Profiling is an assessment of our natural expression of movement, body language is an excellent clue to your child’s Energy Type. Pay attention to the way your child moves. Do any of these movements describe your child?

Crawling:
Type 3 infants start moving early! Before they crawl, they may drag themselves across the floor, army style, to get to whatever toy or goal they have in mind.

They start crawling and often continue to do so for a long time. They get so good at crawling that they would rather just keep crawling to get what they want quickly, rather than take the time to learn to walk. They often wait until their bodies grow and mature to a stage where they can learn to walk quickly before they ever take those first steps.

Walking:
A Type 3 walk has a swift, deliberate movement to it. These children probably spend less time walking and more time running everywhere they go. They will slow down to a more deliberate walk as adults, but while your Type 3 is a child, expect them to take off at a sprint when they decide they want to go somewhere.

With their strong movement, these children are also known for clomping around the house. Type 3 children are heavy-footed and you can hear them coming. My Type 3 grandson, Joseph, stomps around the house making growling noises, just as a natural movement throughout the day.

Sitting/Standing:
These children sit and stand at angles. They put their hands on their hips or in their pockets, bending at the elbow, making angles and a strong stance. They may even sleep at angles, with one leg bent in an asymmetrical position.

You won’t often catch these children sitting still of their own choice. And when they do sit still, they are usually tapping something or moving somehow. I know of one Type 3 child who gets out of his seat during meal times to make a circuit of the room on imaginary adventures. Another one insists on eating all of her meals standing. Your Type 3 child will usually only land for a while if they get completely absorbed in a project they’re working on and trying to finish.

Voice/Language:
Loud voice, medium pitch. When upset, a Type 3’s voice can become explosive. They speak directly and their voice carries. Due to their louder voices and more abrupt manner of communicating, Type 3 children get shushed by their parents more than any other Type. Type 3 children do not know they are louder. It’s just the way they are built and naturally express themselves.

Child Whisperer Tip:
Your Type 3 child needs to learn that certain times are appropriate to use a quieter voice. However, in most of the situations in which parents tell their children to be quiet, the shush is for the parents’ own comfort. The next time you want to tell your Type 3 child to shush, reconsider if it’s really necessary. Just let them talk at their normally loud level and see if their volume really matters that much.

To be constantly reminded and told to be quieter than they are makes Type 3 children begin to doubt their assertive, expressive nature. If you feel your Type 3 child really is talking too loudly for a certain situation, rather than shush them, ask them to use their quieter voice in a manner that is honorable rather than embarrassing to them.

Personal Space:
Type 3 children move swiftly, which means that their personal space may be a bit of a mess.

They are not trying to be messy, they’re just moving so quickly that they may not have the time or attention to clean up after themselves naturally. They do want to help, so if you bring the mess to their attention and make cleanup a challenge, they will pick up in a hurry.

Child Whisperer Tip:
Don’t try to prevent your child’s big energy. Parents often sense their Type 3 child’s powerhouse energy under the surface and they worry about just letting it go. They can just tell their child is going to DO something. They wonder,
what if it gets out of control?
Pray for inspiration to know how to direct that energy, rather than contain it. I’ll say it again: Redirect, don’t contain! Their energy won’t get out of control if they feel safe to express it. Check your living space to see if it’s supportive to a Type 3’s exploratory, active nature. Make necessary adjustments. You’ll end up telling your Type 3 child no a lot less often, and your child will be so much happier.

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JOSEPH’S STORY

Another Bedtime Adventure

My grandson Joseph loves a challenge. I mentioned earlier how he climbed out of his crib and took off his pajamas and diaper at night, keeping him from comfortably falling asleep. Another bedtime challenge he loved was getting out of bed after Mom and Dad had turned out the light, and taking all of his toys out of his toy chest and closet.

Rather than go through the push-pull struggle of trying to teach a two-year-old to stay in his bed and leave the toys alone at night, Jenny just pulled the toy chest out of his room and into the hall and put a child prevention lock on the closet doors so Joseph had nothing in his personal space to challenge him at bedtime. As he has grown and matured in his sense of reasoning and understanding, she has successfully taught him that it’s bedtime and not time to pull all the toys out. She no longer needs to remove the items from his space.

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Challenges as a Parent: Feeling Pushed and