I am a Platypus

I am a Platypus
By Renae
I can remember when I was a young teenager. Eagerly I read a book on personality types. It was at a time where I felt like I was going through a bit of an “identity crisis” and I truly wanted to figure out who I was and where I fit in with life. You can imagine my dismay when I completed the quiz at the end of the book and each personality type scored EXACTLY the same!

Now, fast-forward to this fall. Our family was enjoying a family camp and the key speakers were talking about discovering your personality types. It was so interesting to gain a better understanding not only of my children’s personality types, but also my husband’s. However, I was disappointed with answering only 4 questions. Carrying on my research at home, I found links to continue to discover who I really was. I took the first test and read my results—it didn’t really sound like me, so I waited a couple of days and took the test a second time—and got completely different results. I tried a third time, with again, different results. I didn’t seem to fit into any of the personality types, but rather seemed to be a mixed blend of them all. I felt like that insecure teenager all over again.

It was easy to pin-point my family, though: my one daughter was the fun-loving OTTER, always ready for adventure, not really wanting to stick with one thing for long. Details really weren’t her thing, while friends were vital. She thrives on action and adventure and is usually the first of my kids to say “I’m bored”.

My other daughter, however, is the exact opposite. As a BEAVER, she is a stickler for details. She is the one who, while in grade 1, told me I wasn’t following the directions correctly for her LA. She is precise, prompt, and very detailed oriented.

Figuring out my boys was a bit more of a challenge. My oldest is a people-pleaser—now, not to the point where people walk on him, but enough that he doesn’t want to ruffle feathers. If something isn’t right, he wants to fix it, this is very similar to the GOLDEN RETRIEVER that I learned about. Another trait is indecisiveness (which I have a bit of).

My younger son is known to decide what to do and try to gather up followers. He loves to be the “little boss”. We call him our little LION. He will line up the family, tell us stories and then dictate the questions and responses we are supposed to give.

Meanwhile, the youngest is another OTTER, looking especially for ways to get a great reaction from his LION brother. He usually is at the dinner table poking his brother instead of eating his food.

My husband is a good combination, with strengths in being a LION and OTTER. He is also a bit of a GOLDEN RETRIEVER, and cares what others think.

This takes me back to my dilemma, close friends are sure I am one way, while my tendency is actually the opposite. I do pay attention to details (BEAVER), but may not make a big fuss about it in order to keep the peace (GOLDEN RETRIEVER). If a leader does not rise up, I will take charge, but it’s not my first choice, so I am not the LION I once thought I was. I do enjoy having fun, but it’s not high on my priority list (so, OTTER is the lowest for me). All in all, I tend to be close to the middle in most of the strengths, thus making me a mismatched animal resembling the platypus.

I fought with this conclusion until I chose to look at the personality traits like a wheel. Each strength took up a certain quadrant, with those tending to the extremes on the outer edges. I sat closer to the middle without the extreme tendencies. As I observed where my family sat in their personalities, I realized that they were mostly on the extreme outer circles. Often I feel like I am the anchor bridging the gap between such extreme personalities . . . not easy, but I am glad to do it.

In saying all this, I am content to be a platypus—a mixture of every personality type. Perhaps my strongest are the GOLDEN RETRIEVER and BEAVER, but the LION tends to rise up to take leadership when needed. While fun isn’t my focus, I can understand enough of the OTTER to keep connected (good thing, since 3 members of my family are strong OTTERS).

I did not try to categorize my family in order to put them in a box. Instead, my goal is to better understand myself, my husband and my children and rejoice in the differences that God has given us instead of fighting them. Let’s celebrate who we are and try to better understand, this will make for a more peaceful home and school time.

Here are some links to help you discover more about the personality types and strengths in your family:

Gary Smalley

http://smalley.cc/marriage-assessments/free-personality-test

Family Relationships Report (this is in colors and is the one that I scored different each time)

http://www.ttifamilyfirst.com/parent.php