My 11-year old son is Orange, pretty deep Orange. T. is never too worried about getting hung up on the details – like combing one’s hair for instance. He often showers in the evening, goes to bed with damp hair (because his attitude is “who cares, it’ll dry while I sleep”) and voila, rolls out of bed with a serious case of bed head. Since I know he’s Orange, I don’t nag him to comb his “Alfalfa” sprouts. At some point, he’ll care enough to comb it.
One afternoon he mentioned that several people at school asked if he got a haircut. He had not, but he HAD showered in the morning that day, so his hair was tidy. He tells me one girl finally shouted out, “I know why you look like you got a hair cut! It’s not sticking up all over the place today!”
After he relayed this story to me, I suggested that, with a little quick and easy damp combing in the morning, he could ditch the sticky up look. His reply? “Oh NO WAY! Are you kidding me? Everybody LOVES my hair that way – it’s the highlight of their day to see my hair all crazy like that!”
And if I needed any further confirmation of his Orange, when he saw my companies’ awards catalog yesterday, he looked at the cover at dinner and said “Mom, how ’bout you order me one of those cool laser crystal trophies and engrave “World’s Best Son” on it for me? Or you could put World’s Best Goalie, or World’s Best Football Player, or something like that. Please?”
I am grateful for Colors every day. One reason is that since I am a Gold/Green, it’s allowed me to understand him so much better; to see his dominant Orange, appreciate it for all its good qualities, and pick my battles when they really matter. It also helps me to remember that Oranges learn life lessons the hard way a lot, when there are negative consequences that he has to work through. It’s given me the understanding that I have to step back and let him “feel the pain” for things to sink in. And it’s helped me know a little better what helps motivate him. Not to mention how it helps me understand what makes me and the rest of my kids & husband tick. 🙂 C.E.