Parenthood

“My instinct is to protect my children from pain. But adversity is often the thing that gives us character and backbone.”

As parents, Advocates will tend to look at their relationships with their children as opportunities to learn and grow with someone they care about. They will also work to achieve another important goal – raising their children to be independent and all-around good people.

These types are devoted and loving toward their children throughout the parenting relationship. However, what Advocates really look forward to is being able to communicate and relate to the people they helped to raise, as equals.

Be Unique, Just Like Me

As their children grow, Advocates will likely try to project a great deal of their own beliefs onto them. They will demand the same sort of integrity and honesty that they demand from themselves. Advocates may even find themselves “guilting” their children into following their path in their weaker moments. Despite this, Advocate personalities will also push their children to think independently, make their own choices, and develop their own beliefs.

If all this independence is taken to heart, it can cause some trouble for Advocate parents as their children move into the more rebellious phase of adolescence. This is especially true if their children choose beliefs that go against what their Advocate parents hoped they would believe. In this case, Advocates are likely to feel like their children are pointing out their flaws by following another path, a hurtful thing to such a sensitive personality type.

A Job Well Done

Ultimately, though, Advocate parents will realize that these conflicting beliefs aren’t a sign of their failure. Rather, they are a sign of their success in raising someone who learned to form their own ideals. As they grow, Advocates’ children will also come to appreciate the combination of independence and integrity with which they were raised.

Advocates strive to make sure that their children grow up with a firm understanding of the difference between right and wrong. Parents with this personality type encourage their children to fight for a cause they believe in, striving to be the best they can be. If they feel that they have accomplished this goal, Advocate parents will be satisfied with what they’ve accomplished together with their children.