A reader posted a picture of her children, who unbeknownst to her had decided to help her clean the fridge. Besides the cute factor, the first thing I noticed was how organized these children were. Not only do they have the contents in a row, but they also have the items sitting by size. That is very rare in a child unless they are given instructions to do so and even then they usually can’t do it quite this efficiently.
The second thing I noticed is that one is the ‘worker’ and the other one is the ‘thinker‘. The worker is the one at the door. He is probably the one giving the items to the thinker. The thinker is hard at work trying to figure out where the item he currently has in his hand should go.
Watching your children can be a real learning tool for you as a parent. Even if you watch them at play you will see traits that will give you clear indications of how they operate and what ways they like to communicate, think and/or work. If you can observe what your children are doing and why then you have a key to how best to work with them to help them understand themselves better. This is key for when they are trying to decide many things in their life such as what school courses to take or what jobs to go for. It will also help them and you be able to communicate with fewer frustrations.
Although it is not important how the items are placed on the floor it will be important how the items go back into the fridge. The thinker will probably want to be the one to put them back in. I am assuming that they will continue doing the same jobs they are now with the worker handing the items to his brother so he can place them in the fridge in a certain order. What would be interesting to know is if they cleaned the fridge after taking all the stuff out and which of them did what. My guess is that the thinker suggested it and probably got the cloth to do so. It would have been funny to see if he had ordered the worker to do the cleaning. If he did, he will probably be in management when he is older.
Although this is not an exact science, for this mom to know this information will be key in many aspects. When the thinker tries to go clean his room, he will take a lot longer but it will probably be done better, however, the worker will have it done quicker. The mom will probably have to break down exactly what she expects for the worker child in order to help him know what is expected of him, but she can probably just let the thinker child come up with his own plan.
When it comes time to dole out chores you would probably want the thinker to be the one cleaning the bathroom or doing the laundry as he will also sort out the clothes and organize as he goes along and the worker should be given the jobs that have more manual labor and less thinking, such as taking out the garbage and cutting the grass.
Now although the thinker will probably be able to handle more intricate jobs he will also be the one that will probably ask lots of questions growing up and or question every decision you make, especially if it concerns decisions you have made about his consequences or bedtime or he will question why he has to clean his room. The worker will probably just go do exactly what he is told to do unless he sees the thinker arguing and then he might try. He will be the one that gives up easier than the thinker will. So both types of children have their strengths and weakness and your job is to learn which is which and help them use their skills appropriately.
By taking the time, we can help our children even decide on careers later on in life so it is crucial to be observant and help them make wise decisions by being honest with them about what we have observed that will help them learn more about themselves.
If you have a child that is doing things and you do not know what that might mean as far as their learning goes or how to help them and/or if you have a picture like this you would like to send me and get my opinion on, please feel free to post it below in the comments and/or sent me a message on Facebook with the picture attached.
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