Type A. When you hear that term, I bet specific Images pop into your brain. You may have even winced, a little. That’s my response when I hear the term now. Type As, in my opinion, seem so intense. High-strung, perfectionistic, hamsters running on a squeaky wheel. Always in a rush, doing, doing, doing, striving to achieve.
To this former member of the Type A club, the term also conveys unhappiness, stress, anxiety and fear of looking foolish. And that makes me terribly sad. Because, as a classroom teacher I see little kids who demonstrate these behaviors. They fret, worry about making mistakes.
As parents, our children’s anxiety can trigger feelings of guilt, make us question our parenting skills or simply accept that apples do not fall far from the tree.
But I’m here to tell you, first-hand, that your child does not have to develop a Type A personality and grow into an anxious adult. While I agree whole-heartedly that some people are born with a greater predisposition for anxiety, I can also tell you that anxiety can be managed and confidence can grow in its place.
Over that last two decades, I have worked with hundreds of second graders and parented two daughters. As any teacher will tell you, happy kids are available to learn and achieve. School is an altogether different experience for a stressed-out, insecure child. And classroom teachers want all of our kids to be happy and successful. We want them to leave us empowered.
With this goal in mind, I’ve developed strategies to help kids move away from Type A tendencies, minimize their anxiety levels and own their awesomeness. I call this becoming type z.
Kathie Z.