Everyone has a bad day sometimes, but how does your child generally look at the world? Does your child always have a smile on her face? Is he usually serious? Is he usually happy? Is she always complaining about something?
Positive
Every parent wants a positive child, the child that looks for the best in others, themselves, and the world and then finds it.
The positive child will make the best of any situation. They will be slower to anger and get over hurt feelings easier. They will look for the good in people.
The positive child is not one that sees the ills in society. Therefore they may not evaluate things as carefully as the negative child. They will not recognize that certain people or friends of theirs might not be good influences.
When something bad happens in their lives, such as moving, friendship ending, divorce, or death, they may find it devastating because they hadn’t considered that bad things could happen. Luckily their positive attitude should prevail and they will look at the world in a positive light again.
Negative
The negative child looks at life more seriously. They recognize that bad things do happen and are afraid that they will happen to them. When bad things do happen it is just an affirmation of their fears.
As a parent you will need to help the negative child “lighten up” and recognize the good things in their lives. It might be helpful to have them write or say out loud one good thing in their life every day.
“Laughter is the best medicine,” and in the case of the negative child it is true. Laughing makes people feel better. Try sharing jokes, renting a humorous movie, or reading a funny book.
The negative child may have low self-worth. Since they tend to focus on the negative they may think that other people feel negatively about them. Help your child by finding something that they are good at and can feel proud of.
Serious children tend to analyze things carefully. They are often the problem solvers of the world.
For more ideas on how to help your child be more positive read my blog, “Developing A Positive Attitude.”
For more information about other personality traits read my blog “The 9 Temperamental Traits”.