[MBTI General] As children

[wrldisquiethere]

I have been talking to my mum and found out that when i was around 18 months old, i decided i didn't want to wear nappies anymore. I took it off one night in bed, gave it to my mum and never wore another one again. If only all toddlers were like that.

That is so me. I don't do things by halves.

That is so ME! I could totally see myself doing that. My mom teases me about this. If I start a diet or something it is 100% to the letter! If I'm determined to do something I will follow through to every last detail, no looking back.

 

[Saslou]

That is so ME! I could totally see myself doing that. My mom teases me about this. If I start a diet or something it is 100% to the letter! If I'm determined to do something I will follow through to every last detail, no looking back.

.. lol, i don't have the patience to follow most things through now. I get bored and i move on.
In my last house (which i was in for 9 years) i started to paint the kitchen ceiling not long after i had moved in. Got bored and left it. lmao, when i left that house that ceiling was still only half painted.

My intentions are always good. My focus is 100%. I start, i know what i need to do, then i get bored and have to look for the next little thrill. Although things that are important to me such as work, getting my driving license etc that goes get my 'focus'. That is stubborn determination.

Its all good.

 

[xX_Miss_Valentine_Xx]

I won't mention then the one and only time i went shoplifting with my friends (they were doing it every weekend) and i got caught and tried to bribe the police man with maltesers (i actually pay for them sweets). .

Oh my gosh, my poor mum.

Lol

 

[EJCC]

Yeah that was how it was with me. I never even considered ditching school. I remember once my mom made me wear these high water, bell-bottom jeans to school. EEEEKKKK!!!!

I went to school dreading it, but was always the obedient child; this was in the 8th grade. The kids all walked behind me calling out "Ding, ding, ding, ding, THE FLOODS ARE COMING, THE FLOODS ARE COMING."

I am pretty sure they were some puke color on top of that. Who ever thought shooting the couch to make clothes should have been hung.

Aw. I totally relate to this. Especially the "never even considered" part. I would do all this different stuff, perfectly obediently, not because I thought that I HAD to, but because I literally didn't consider that there would be another option.

I could see myself as a kid doing that.


But anyways, here's the giant spiel answering the OP:

As a small child (preschool and younger), I was VERY independent. I had a very long attention span for someone my age, and I was very good at entertaining myself. (This may have been from being an only child.) I liked interacting with people - I wasn't an introvert at all (in fact, I was very happy and smart and loved people), but I had a tendency to do what I wanted to do unless explicitly told otherwise. Once, without any malicious intent, I practically pushed another kid off the slide simply because I wanted to go next. Also, I often preferred reading to sitting in a circle with the other kids and teachers at the preschool, and would only join the circle when I was told to do so. As a result, one of the preschool teachers had me tested for autism without my parents knowledge. My mom was so angry when she found out! She still holds that grudge to this day. (But then again, she's INFJ, and holds grudges for her entire life!)

Even when I was older, I was similarly independent. I would only respect my teachers if they proved themselves to be smarter and more knowledgeable than me, and if they weren't, then they'd lose my respect and they would know it. For example, if a teacher misspelled something on the board, I would literally walk right up to the board when she left the room or had her back turned and I would correct her spelling. Yes, I was a little arrogant then, and also wasn't much of a goody-two-shoes. In some respects I was - e.g. there were rules that I didn't even consider breaking because it was so cemented in my mind that I "wasn't supposed to do that" - but in other respects, not at all. There were plenty of rules that I would follow until I knew that I could get away with breaking them. Not very ESTJ-ish, I know, but there you have it.

For most of my childhood, I'd say that I almost got along better with adults than with peers. Teachers and adult family friends absolutely loved me, and students were ambivalent. I didn't have very many friends, but this was mostly because I went to a tiny K-8 private school, where my entire grade had 13 kids in it. I spent a lot of time with my parents, not only because I was an only child, and not only because my parents were my best friends, but because I wanted to be a good kid, and being a good kid meant doing what you were supposed to do, and I felt like I was supposed to be there for my parents. I also felt like I was supposed to do well in school, and learn a lot, and have the teachers like me, so parent-teacher conferences would go well. (All this, I think, was my enneagram 1 showing itself.) But I didn't necessarily feel like I was supposed to spend a lot of time with friends, because I had so much social contact in school and with family. I really had no social life until high school, and I honestly didn't care.

I was always very honest, very blunt, and not necessarily very touchy-feely. My best friend all through elementary and middle school was a gruff, macho IxTJ boy who lived on the same block as me. We played a lot of video games, and pretend games outside in which we'd invent epic storylines based on superhero stories, pirate movies, video games, etc, and then we'd act them out. It was complex stuff! When I played pretend games with other girls, I'd usually act out the more masculine, tough role - e.g. the self-sacrificing warrior, whereas the girls would end up being the victim, the princess, etc. I was never one for gender roles - they never even crossed my mind.

I could go on and on, but that's good enough, I think.

 

[sculpting]

Aw. I totally relate to this. Especially the "never even considered" part. I would do all this different stuff, perfectly obediently, not because I thought that I HAD to, but because I literally didn't consider that there would be another option.

I could see myself as a kid doing that.


But anyways, here's the giant spiel answering the OP:

As a small child (preschool and younger), I was VERY independent. I had a very long attention span for someone my age, and I was very good at entertaining myself. (This may have been from being an only child.) I liked interacting with people - I wasn't an introvert at all (in fact, I was very happy and smart and loved people), but I had a tendency to do what I wanted to do unless explicitly told otherwise. Once, without any malicious intent, I practically pushed another kid off the slide simply because I wanted to go next. Also, I often preferred reading to sitting in a circle with the other kids and teachers at the preschool, and would only join the circle when I was told to do so. As a result, one of the preschool teachers had me tested for autism without my parents knowledge. My mom was so angry when she found out! She still holds that grudge to this day. (But then again, she's INFJ, and holds grudges for her entire life!)

Even when I was older, I was similarly independent. I would only respect my teachers if they proved themselves to be smarter and more knowledgeable than me, and if they weren't, then they'd lose my respect and they would know it. For example, if a teacher misspelled something on the board, I would literally walk right up to the board when she left the room or had her back turned and I would correct her spelling. Yes, I was a little arrogant then, and also wasn't much of a goody-two-shoes. In some respects I was - e.g. there were rules that I didn't even consider breaking because it was so cemented in my mind that I "wasn't supposed to do that" - but in other respects, not at all. There were plenty of rules that I would follow until I knew that I could get away with breaking them. Not very ESTJ-ish, I know, but there you have it.

At the playground the baby Te doms are quite obvious as they do stuff like what you mention-pushing kids off the slide. They arent mean-just seeking to get things moving. My INTJ toddler actually seeks these kids out and wont play with other types of kids very often. This works well until he ran up behind the kid, took back his toy and a Te war broke out between three year olds.

My 6 yo neice is a baby estj-she tales control of the classroom and directs the other kids in what they need to be doing. She is very independent like you were. She also will do exactly as you say-do what she wants until explicitly told otherwise. the mispelling is hysterical as she will do that as well-correct the teacher. Competency is everything for her.

 

[Little Linguist]

Aw. I totally relate to this. Especially the "never even considered" part. I would do all this different stuff, perfectly obediently, not because I thought that I HAD to, but because I literally didn't consider that there would be another option.

I could see myself as a kid doing that.


But anyways, here's the giant spiel answering the OP:

As a small child (preschool and younger), I was VERY independent. I had a very long attention span for someone my age, and I was very good at entertaining myself. (This may have been from being an only child.) I liked interacting with people - I wasn't an introvert at all (in fact, I was very happy and smart and loved people), but I had a tendency to do what I wanted to do unless explicitly told otherwise. Once, without any malicious intent, I practically pushed another kid off the slide simply because I wanted to go next. Also, I often preferred reading to sitting in a circle with the other kids and teachers at the preschool, and would only join the circle when I was told to do so. As a result, one of the preschool teachers had me tested for autism without my parents knowledge. My mom was so angry when she found out! She still holds that grudge to this day. (But then again, she's INFJ, and holds grudges for her entire life!)

Even when I was older, I was similarly independent. I would only respect my teachers if they proved themselves to be smarter and more knowledgeable than me, and if they weren't, then they'd lose my respect and they would know it. For example, if a teacher misspelled something on the board, I would literally walk right up to the board when she left the room or had her back turned and I would correct her spelling. Yes, I was a little arrogant then, and also wasn't much of a goody-two-shoes. In some respects I was - e.g. there were rules that I didn't even consider breaking because it was so cemented in my mind that I "wasn't supposed to do that" - but in other respects, not at all. There were plenty of rules that I would follow until I knew that I could get away with breaking them. Not very ESTJ-ish, I know, but there you have it.

For most of my childhood, I'd say that I almost got along better with adults than with peers. Teachers and adult family friends absolutely loved me, and students were ambivalent. I didn't have very many friends, but this was mostly because I went to a tiny K-8 private school, where my entire grade had 13 kids in it. I spent a lot of time with my parents, not only because I was an only child, and not only because my parents were my best friends, but because I wanted to be a good kid, and being a good kid meant doing what you were supposed to do, and I felt like I was supposed to be there for my parents. I also felt like I was supposed to do well in school, and learn a lot, and have the teachers like me, so parent-teacher conferences would go well. (All this, I think, was my enneagram 1 showing itself.) But I didn't necessarily feel like I was supposed to spend a lot of time with friends, because I had so much social contact in school and with family. I really had no social life until high school, and I honestly didn't care.

I was always very honest, very blunt, and not necessarily very touchy-feely. My best friend all through elementary and middle school was a gruff, macho IxTJ boy who lived on the same block as me. We played a lot of video games, and pretend games outside in which we'd invent epic storylines based on superhero stories, pirate movies, video games, etc, and then we'd act them out. It was complex stuff! When I played pretend games with other girls, I'd usually act out the more masculine, tough role - e.g. the self-sacrificing warrior, whereas the girls would end up being the victim, the princess, etc. I was never one for gender roles - they never even crossed my mind.

I could go on and on, but that's good enough, I think.

Wow. This is epic!!!!! Are we twins??? HAAHA

I don't know if you want me to go into it but I can relate to almost ALL OF THIS!!!!!!!!!

 

[Patches]

Hrm. I was a bit of a tomboy. I grew up with an older brother whom I spent most of my time with. Played a lot of football, videogames, and played with GI Joes.

I had long hair, and I wanted to cut it short like a boy. My mother wouldn't let me because she wanted me to be more like a girl. So I decided one day that I was going to cut it myself. I chopped all of my hair off with a pair of scissors in my bedroom, and hid the hair I cut off under my bed. (I'm not sure why. Did I think she wasn't going to notice it was missing?) That's probably the most trouble I have ever been in.

I also used to intimidate adults, somehow. My aunt used to babysit me, and when she would try to tell me to to do something, I would glare at her and say "You can't tell me what to do, you're not my mommy." And apparently my glare would scare the shit out of her. She started refusing to babysit me. I had elementary school teachers who were also afraid of me and told my mother at parent-teacher conferences that it made them uncomfortable when I looked at them while I was angry.

I was impossible to punish, as well. Physical punishment didn't ever scare me as kid, and it would just make me act up worse. Teachers had a hard time, because I liked being kept inside for recess, since I would just sit and read on the playground. I had a teacher try to sit me in a corner, and I would just sing/hum to myself and be perfectly content. A teacher actually got in HUGE trouble one time because she left me sitting in a corner for 3 hours. I was unphased.

Im not sure what else to bring up, but this is a really interesting topic and Im really enjoying reading other's stories.

 

[Lady Lazarus]

As a child I was an Fi dom (at that, a young Fi dom) and that was my original error in choice.

 

[Forever]

As a child I was an Fi dom (at that, a young Fi dom) and that was my original error in choice.

Then aren't you still an Fi dom?

 

[Lady Lazarus]

Then aren't you still an Fi dom?

No.

 

[Forever]

No.

I'm gonna say yes. Unless you were never an Fi dom.

 

[Lady Lazarus]

I'm gonna say yes. Unless you were never an Fi dom.

Nah.

 

[Forever]

Nah.

Suit yourself.

 

[EJCC]

God damn this thread is old.

I only have a few edits to my original 2010 post.

I spent a lot of time with my parents, not only because I was an only child, and not only because my parents were my best friends, but because I wanted to be a good kid, and being a good kid meant doing what you were supposed to do, and I felt like I was supposed to be there for my parents.

I didn't think about it that hard. I don't think any of it was wanting to take care of my parents or be there for them. It was just, I liked hanging out with my parents, and I liked hanging out with my friends at school, and that perfectly met my social needs. No reason to hang out with either my friends or my parents any more than that.

I was always very honest, very blunt, and not necessarily very touchy-feely. My best friend all through elementary and middle school was a gruff, macho IxTJ boy who lived on the same block as me. We played a lot of video games, and pretend games outside in which we'd invent epic storylines based on superhero stories, pirate movies, video games, etc, and then we'd act them out. It was complex stuff! When I played pretend games with other girls, I'd usually act out the more masculine, tough role - e.g. the self-sacrificing warrior, whereas the girls would end up being the victim, the princess, etc. I was never one for gender roles - they never even crossed my mind.

I reconnected with this childhood friend recently, and talked about the MBTI with him a bit. He's not an introvert at all -- self-types as an ENTJ. He's a consultant now, and does some kind of accounting/project management thing. When I asked him what he liked best about it, every reason he listed was extremely e8. Reading people for their strengths and weaknesses and learning which buttons to push. I suspect he's an ENTJ 8w9.

 

[Dyslexxie]

I only have a few edits to my original 2010 post.

Holy smokes, your original posts sound exactly like me. I'm also an only child so I had a similar relationship with my parents, and I was also quite blunt and not necessarily touchy feely or overly emotional (unless it came to animals - all bets are off when it comes to animals with me anyway). I also had a tough male best friend (although I think he's an ISTP?) who I played video games with a lot and we also made up stories. He always had some kind of dog or dogs that he was teaching tricks to so we got along real well because I've always loved animals.

We were both pretty big tricksters so we always played pranks on people and were really exclusive about who we let in on our jokes - generally it wasn't anyone, because no one was as cool as us. We got a little mean sometimes, like how we used to throw firecrackers in people's yards. This one time they fell on our neighbor's brand new Audi...yeah that was scary as all hell. (The car was fine, btw.)

Because I hung out with him so much and also because I grew up on a farm I was definitely less girly than a lot of girls. I don't think I even really had girlfriends til I was in my teens. I was always too busy doing stupid shit with my boyfriends, ain't nobody got time for girl stuff.

I was also super dorky growing up. I learned to read when I was 4 or 5 so I read a loooot. I know I used to really like history and was really into Roman and Egyptian history.

To be fair my personality or behavior hasn't really changed, there are just less firecrackers in my life now.

Edit: I realize I'm amongst SJs, but I can't follow thread guidelines. Ain't nobody got time for that either.

 

[Yama]

I was a very polite and well-behaved little child. I was the token friend who would say "No we can't do that that's against the rules!!!" and then was reluctantly coerced into doing the "bad" thing while whining the whole time. I had (and still have) a lot of anxiety problems.

And much like I still do, I had this crazy fucking silly side to me that sometimes awakens, especially in the company of groups of friends. I varied between being lethargic as shit and being a hyped up ball of energy. As I grew older that energy died though, now I'm just lethargic all the time.

As a child I was very lazy, messy, and might as well have been allergic to hygiene. It wasn't until high school that I suddenly became perfectionistic and hyper-organized.

I have never given a single solitary shit about fashion in my life and I wear sweatpants pretty much daily because I wanna be fucking comfortable.

My self-confidence issues have been around basically forever.

I have always liked to read ever since I was young. I have liked writing ever since I could hold a pencil. Ironically, because I am not good at reading out loud and that is how we were tested in kindergarten, I was "behind" the rest of my classmates.

I've always sort of had this timid, nervous temperament.

I was one hell of a sidekick. My INTJ friend loved experimenting on me. She made me stare at leaves to try and set them on fire with my mind and learn to recite passages backwards so we could be teleported to the moon. It sounds silly as fuck, and it was, in retrospect. But holy hell am I getting nostalgic right now. I miss that friend, our constant sleepovers, the smell of her house. It had a distinct smell. I miss all of the things we used to do together, and she introduced me to a lot of hobbies (like certain video games). Damn I think those were some of the best days of my entire life. Wait what is this topic again? Oh yeah. Being a kid. I was a good sidekick kid.

According to my mother, as a young child (like preschool) I was very bossy with the other children. As I grew older, I became less bossy. I was, however (and still am) pretty damn bossy with people I am comfortable around, including friends and immediate family.

My mother describes me as having been an independent soul, not a snuggly child, and someone who marches to the beat of their own drummer.

Gullible as fuck. Also stupid as fuck.

 

[Betty Blue]

I was ferrel but also a people pleaser. I loved receiving praise and making others happy, I responded very well to positive rewards etc. So in some respects I fit the mould of a good little girl. I loved learning to read and write and math and wanted to do well at school. However when it came to institutions I didn't quite fit. Luckily my primary school was pretty liberal compared with others and the big pink party dress with red wellies just made the teachers smile rather than chastise me, my adventurousness was encouraged rather than limited. The problems started when I was given unbending rules, uniform, strict schedules and etc. when i made it to teenagerdom.. all hell broke loose.

 

[cascadeco]

I was apparently 'bubbly', often with a smile, in young years, up through early elementary (around age 7). I was always a good kid, wanted to please. Not a troublemaker. Did well in school, especially enjoyed art projects. But did well in other classes so became pretty academically focused later on. By junior high I began to completely withdraw from peers and became socially fearful and self conscious, which lasted until college where I forcibly reversed course. But I didn't figure out the underlying reasons and emotions til 20's and on. Anyway, back to being a kid. At home I spent most of my time reading, or playing with my brother. I was always pretty sensitive in terms of internalizing a few experiences with friends (which is why I withdrew eventually), but generally wasn't an excitable child, didn't get anxious about things, wasn't bothered by changes in plans, was pretty adaptable. As a toddler I reportedly was really outgoing and walked up to strangers, later on I just kind of kept everything to myself, doing what I enjoyed doing and immersing myself in those things at home.

 

[free electron]

People and family would say I was sooo shy, I thought I was so myself but now I understand that I was only very introverted (which is different!). Also I was my parents first child and my mom told me later that sometimes, when I was still a baby I was so quiet that she thought I had died , well it was her first experience so anything would worry her. Also as the eldest, I was always meant to set an example for my younger siblings and it made me into someone quite responsible I think (according to my own standard obviously ). So I was very obedient, calm, did well at school and developed an acute sense of observation from a very young age. Something noticeable about me was that I have always been against fitting the established gender role which my family seemed so eager to drag me into.

 

[wolfnara]

I always asked questions. Even though I already knew the answer, I asked anyway. In terms of rules I was obedient most of the time, but at the same time, highly strung. I was really imaginative, liked to play pretend, and apparently didnt say much. Also read a lot of anything I could find. That is all I can remember.