Our 5 year old son’s response to the vicious attacks from his baby sister are admirable, “Mommy, when she pokes my eye out, at least I can still see with the other one.”
Last night, my ongoing search for a way to survive “terrible two” with my terror of a daughter reached a new level as my husband and I collapsed(not on the sofa pictured) in exhaustion at 8:00 pm. We’ve become consistent in our discipline approach, but now she smiles and puts herself in timeout. The dusty child rearing books have been cracked open(both the leading American and French literature on the subject), we’ve sought advice from a local expert and even hinted to Nana that her granddaughter is coming to the US for an indefinite extended visit .
As a teen, my Mother always told me she hoped I’d have a daughter just like me, but even she feels bad about wishing that on me now! Last night I came across a mention of research in a book suggesting that Type A characteristics can be identified already in babies. (here is a link to an old mention in the NY Times on the subject). As I read from the book aloud to my husband he asked, “What is Type A?”. I rattled off the list; Intense, Energetic, Ambitious, Competitive, Impatient, etc. Unfamiliar with the term Type A, he asked, ” Well then, what are the other types”?
Wrong person to ask. When you are Type A, there is only one type!
Suzy Ogé is an American born business woman living in The Hague, The Netherlands. 
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