I came across an interesting quiz this morning from Dream Box, the same company I reviewed not too long ago for their online math games.  I liked the games they offered online, so I figured the parenting style quiz might be fun to take.

The quiz is designed for parents of school-aged kids, but it wasn’t difficult to apply the questions to scenarios I encounter with my young children.  The quiz asked a series of questions about what I would do in certain instances.  If my child wanted a puppy, what would I say? If my child wanted to try out for a very competitive team, how would I react? I couldn’t help but laugh at one question that asked me what I would do if my child wanted to leave the house wearing a mismatched outfit; you would know why I was laughing if you saw what my daughter left the house wearing on her way to preschool this morning.  I try not to stifle her creativity, but I really wish I had a shirt for me that said something along the lines of My Kids Dress Themselves.

So I took the quiz and apparently I’m a “Mentor.”  That means that I try to prepare my kids for lifelong learning.  That sounds about right, but then to make things a little more interesting I retook the quiz and answered the questions with the opposite of what I would do.  It turns out that I am not a “Historian” parent, or one who refers to life experiences as a way to discipline.

I think there is a larger lesson here.  There’s no concrete way to have the perfect parenting style.  A lot depends on the parents, the kids and the circumstances.  I don’t think there is any combination of answers that would have made the quiz results say something along the lines of, “Wow, you really are a horrible parent!” Maybe I’m a Mentor and maybe you’re a Historian, but the fact remains that we love our kids madly and that’s the most important thing.

Go to this link if you want to take the quiz, Dream Box Learning Quiz.