Every parent or guardian can feel overwhelmed. The noise and chaos of watching over kids can leave parents drained and irritable. There is a personality trait that makes parenting that much more difficult. Studies show that at least 30% of people identify as highly sensitive people. This means that you can be sensitive to lights, sounds, smells and different textures. This also results in being more attuned to other people’s moods and feelings. Being a highly sensitive parent means you’re 47% more likely to have a child who has the same trait.
The good news is, sensitivity can make parenting a joyful experience. There is a test designed to find out if you’re a highly sensitive parent. If you’re on the high end of the sensitivity spectrum, you’re known as an orchid. Orchids suffer more stress when faced with problems. They’re compared to the orchid flower because it requires highly specific conditions to thrive. Orchids struggle to endure in difficult situations. However, they get more out of art, music, and interactions.
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Orchid parenting
Being a highly sensitive parent can sound stressful but it’s important to remember it’s not a disorder, just a personality. Highly sensitive people react strongly to sensory stimulants. Your brain is more receptive to the environment to enable you to pick up more details and process things more deeply.
Orchid parents will have more empathy and reflective thinking. However, they also have a stronger reaction to strong smells or loud noises. When children start screaming, it can feel as though your brain is being painfully pierced. You need to learn to control it and focus on your children. You also need more rest because increased stress can lead to being overwhelmed.
Highly sensitive parents find the earliest stages of parenting the most difficult. They may have more empathy for their children but when they’re babies there’s not much to get attuned to. Thankfully, the stress highly sensitive parents go through early is usually short-lived. By the time the baby is nine months old, orchid parents become well-adjusted and have more high-quality parenting than their less sensitive counterparts.
Another thing that affects how sensitive parents become is their childhood experiences. If you had a negative childhood experience, you’re likely to be more sensitive.
Sensitive teachers
Sensitive teachers who have just landed a new job in a challenging role experience more stress. Their well-being also suffered but recovered once used to their environment. Sensitivity equips caregivers with more empathy to provide for the needs of a child.
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Being sensitive needs coping strategies. The first step is to know when you are stressed. Self-awareness makes it easier to parse through negative experiences and appreciate the positive ones more. When you feel stress coming on, you can also take a break or find a quiet place to calm down.
Social support helps sensitive people recover from stress. Mental health programs help highly sensitive people manage the struggle of adapting to stimuli. Orchid children also benefit from anti-bullying initiatives.
When you’re not sensitive
Parents who have low sensitivity are known as dandelion parents. They have more resilience in the face of strife and aren’t overwhelmed by stimuli. They’re named after dandelions which can grow anywhere. Those who fall somewhere in between are referred to as tulips. Dandelions are strong-minded and can endure any stress. However, having a dandelion personality isn’t a guarantee that you’re biologically able to withstand stress. This could be because you deny your emotional needs and act stoic.
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No one personality is “better”. But knowing where you or your child fall in the spectrum can give you better insight into how to conduct your parenting. Fine-tuning how you relate with your kids and choosing orchid parenting where you’re deliberately more attuned to your children’s needs can be better for your family in the long run.
Check out:
7 Reasons Why Being Sensitive Is A Great Thing
6 Benefits Of Having Good Emotional Intelligence
Signs Of An Empath And How To Protect Your Energy
How To Manage Your Emotions Effectively
Parenting: Key Behaviour To Model For Children
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