[gentletitus2mama]

I like many things that Kevin Leman writes. Some of it is great. I was reskimming through his Have a New Kid by Friday and came across something that flat out made me . It was in regards to shy children. He says.....

Did you know that an extremely shy child is an extremely powerful child?Shyness becomes a way of making sure the adults in that child's life do things the way the child wants to do them. It's actually a form of manipulation ..... Shy children are saying me, me, me, but in a quiet way that parents often miss it. The wise parent will see shyness for what it really is:a manipulitive tool for a child to get their own way.

He tells a story in that section about a little girl who said she was too shy to talk to the old people in the nursing hom and another girl tells her "My Mommy says that being shy is thinking about yourself more than thinking about others. It's being selfish and thinking your better than other people.



What a negative spin to put on shyness. I was very shy as a young girl. Painfully so. I wanted more than anything to be able to be more outgoing. Eventually I did find a way to reach out to others and it became easier but it was a long road. I am just introverted. I certainly wasn't trying to manipulate anyone. And I definately didn't consider myself better than others. The opposite could have been said.