Quotes About Spirited

My father was a deeply committed humanitarian. He was a fighter for social justice. He was spirited in the deepest sense.

With wild eyes that had seen freedom.

James Buchanan's collegiate record for "spirited" rambunctiousness arguably rivals that of George

James Buchanan's collegiate record for "spirited" rambunctiousness arguably rivals that of George W. Bush while a student at Yale.

2. You did not make your child spirited. There is a genetic factor to being spirited, but how one's genes are expressed is significantly influenced by life events. You are but one of the many influences in your child's life. Other parents, relatives, siblings, teachers, neighbors, friends, life experiences, and the world at large all play a part. You make a big difference, but not the only difference.

5. You may celebrate and enjoy the delights of your spirited child. You can concentrate on strengths, appreciate her tender heart, and tickle your fancy with her wild stories and crazy creations. It is appropriate and right to tell her when she is good, instead of when she is bad, to teach her the right way to behave rather than to punish her for innocent errors. Your spirited child possesses personality traits that we value in adults. It is never too early to begin proclaiming her virtues.

Because they are more, much of the advice that works for raising other children is ineffective with spirited kids. To ignore your child's tantrums is ridiculous. He can rage for an hour because you opened the door when he was expecting to do it himself.

2. PERSISTENCE: If an idea or an activity is important to them, spirited children can "lock" right in. They are committed to their task, goal-oriented, and unwilling to give up. Getting them to change their minds is a major undertaking. They love to debate and are not afraid to assert themselves.

WHILE EACH SPIRITED CHILD IS UNIQUE, most are more intense, persistent, sensitive, perceptive, and uncomfortable with change. Many, but not all, possess four additional "bonus" characteristics: aspects of their personality that can make being their parent even more challenging.

6. REGULARITY: Figuring out when they will sleep or eat is a daily puzzle for parents of spirited children who are irregular. It seems impossible to get them onto any kind of schedule. An eight-hour night of undisturbed sleep is a mere memory lingering in your mind from the days before their birth.

THE BONUS CHARACTERISTICS are not common to all spirited kids, but if your child possesses any of them, you will need to be even more enterprising. Not only are you living with a child who is more, but you're also faced with the exhaustion of life with a child who is energetic, rarely falls into a predictable sleeping and eating schedule, expresses a strong resistance to new situations and things, and shares fewer rewarding smiles. Don't despair. These too have their potential.

Your spirited child possesses personality traits that we value in adults. It is never too early to begin proclaiming her virtues.

Love your spirited child for who she is. Let her make you laugh. Let her share with you how she sees, hears, and experiences the things around her. Allow her to enrich your life. Because she is more, she will make you more.

On the good days being the parent of a spirited child is astounding, dumbfounding, wonderful, funny, interesting, and interspersed with moments of brilliance.

8. FIRST REACTION: A quick withdrawal from anything new is typical of many spirited kids. Any unfamiliar idea, thing, place, or person may be met with a vehement "NO!" or a quick disappearance behind your leg or to another room. They need time to warm up before they're ready to participate.

These children, the spirited ones, when surprised or faced with a potential threat startle more easily, their pulse races, blood pressure rises, stress hormones flood into their systems, and on an EEG, their brain even shows more activity on the right side.

A Credo for Parents of Spirited Children 1. You're not alone. According to the personality research 10 to 15 percent of all children living in this country fit the description of the spirited child. That means that there are millions of parents who empathize with you and understand the challenges you face. Your child is not an oddity or a freak. You are not the world's worst parent. You are not the only one. You are among friends.

Some parents mistakenly believe that they need to break the will of a spirited child, even punishing him into obedience, like a horse trainer who beats a horse until the animal breaks. This was not how Seabiscuit was tamed, and it's not about to work with most spirited kids. The problem with the heavy-handed approach is that spirited children have a keen sense of respect and disrespect. When parents rely on punishment, especially

He seemed to be made of sunshine and blood-red tissue and clear weather.

I was a handful growing up.

Cabron!" [Mariposa] stomped her foot. "Hijo de puta." Hard to believe that she was two centuries old and not the young girl she looked and acted. Like Peter Pan, she'd never grown up.