My wife and I are both, for the most part, laid back parents. Yes, we can be competitive and intense, but most of the time we’re pretty
chill. Three of our four boys are like the proverbial "apple that hasn’t fallen far from the tree." We know they have our DNA and seem to be wired in a similar way to Kristen and me. But, it’s a different story for one of our sons. We wonder where this apple
that did fall far from the tree came from. He’s competitive, driven, passionate, and intense. Ever since he was 18 months old, our Type A, competitive, passionate child has perplexed us as parents.
For example, he's never responded to discipline in the same way as our other boys. He's motivated by different things, and his friends are different than our other boy's types of friends. None of this is wrong in any way, shape, or form, but parenting him has
challenged us in significant ways. At the same time, we know his passion and grit can be a good thing. The challenge we’ve faced is how to parent him well without squelching this passion. Maybe you have a competitive child as well. If you do, then you know
the challenge of parenting competitive children. Whether their Type A personality comes out on the ballfield, in the classroom, at home, or in band, how can we best parent our competitive child without destroying their passion?
Here are 8 things you and I can do to better parent our Type A, competitive child.
