Parenting Styles Inventory

Cecilie has been working with a "Parent Coach" recently - yes, she needs all the help she can get - just kidding. The "Parent Coach" she is working with is taking a course and needed somebody to work with for her class and Cecilie was lucky enough to become her student. Anyway, Cecilie and I recently completed a little survey to determine our "Parenting Styles." According to the survey my style is:

Care and Nurturance
Strengths: Understands child’s needs; consistently conveys love and care; encourages child’s artistic expression; ensures that family stays connected through traditions, rituals, regular activities; very adaptable to change under duress; “juggles” well

Challenges: Can have difficulty watching child grow up/letting go; may seem smothering; may meet child/family needs and put own needs last; prone to excessive worry; reluctant to set boundaries or enforce rules; easily manipulated, ‘pushover’.

I'm not sure how accurate the survey is. The full results of the inventory are pasted below:

Results for Parenting Styles Inventory September 2008

The inventory that you and Mike took revealed that you both compliment each other very nicely! Your dominant style is Personal Guidance and Mike’s is Care and Nurturance. You both have Practicality and Results as your secondary preference. These preferences reflect individual personalities and your compatibility as a couple is evident. The most effective parenting comes with the integration of all of the styles. You both seem to have them covered! I have included a little description that gives some details about the various parenting styles. Have fun!


The Four Parenting Styles

	Mike	Cecilie
Practicality and Results	28	28
Reason and Expectation	19	21
Care and Nurturance	31	21
Personal Guidance	22	30

Personal Guidance
Strengths: Has lots of projects, ideas, dreams for child; teaches self-reliance; quick decision maker; multitasker; guides and directs child; comfortable with complexity, change; encourages personal growth; not fearful of child’s future.
Challenges: Order and structure in personal and child’s life; balancing personal and parental responsibilities; child may perceive distraction and uncaring attitude; child may lack predictability and structure; communication with spouse/kids for personal freedom.

Practicality and Results
Strengths: determined and persevering; energetic in child rearing; emphasizes efficiency; assigns meaningful chores; ensures that children are competent and capable; level-headed and rational in arguments; effective mediator and mentor; makes family time a priority.
Challenges: May appear controlling by the child; can be too strict a disciplinarian with unrealistic expectations; uncomfortable with uncertainty/chaos; may take on the peacekeeper role at the expense of others not learning how to mediate and resolve conflicts; impatient with no results; own industriousness may mean other members of family do not have to contribute; focus on time lines may not consider human limitations.

Reason and Expectation
Strengths: Undaunted ,even welcomes arguments; a thinker parent values dialogue; usually calm, objective under stress; sets boundaries well; usually facile at analysis of situations/problems and thoroughly addressing and executing solutions well.
Challenges: emotional detachment seems cold/distant; habit of challenging assumptions appears non-accepting; may be perceived as ‘lecturing’ too much; can be perplexed by emotional needs and expressions.

Care and Nurturance
Strengths: Understands child’s needs; consistently conveys love and care; encourages child’s artistic expression; ensures that family stays connected through traditions, rituals, regular activities; very adaptable to change under duress; “juggles” well.
Challenges: Can have difficulty watching child grow up/letting go; may seem smothering; may meet child/family needs and put own needs last; prone to excessive worry; reluctant to set boundaries or enforce rules; easily manipulated, ‘pushover’.