Parenting Style Assessment

What's your parenting style?

What’s your parenting style? There’s no “right” or “wrong” style, but it can be helpful to know your tendencies. That way, if you want to alter your style, you have a starting point.

Here’s the quiz: ¹
Choose one answer to each of the following ten questions. Write down your answers so you’ll be able to score yourself at the end.

¹Adapted from about.com

Question Title

1. Your child is having a playdate at your house. The kids leave toys scattered all over your playroom and now they want to go outside to play so you:

a. Yell at all of them and make them clean up the room.

b. Just let them go outside and clean it up yourself—it’s easier.

c. Say they need to clean up first, but make a game out of it so they’re happy to pitch in.

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2. Your daughter is stalling at bedtime. First, it was the bathroom. Now she says she’s hungry. You:

a. Scream at her and make her go to bed right away.

b. Give her five minutes to raid the refrigerator and have anything she wants so she’ll stop whining.

c. Let her choose a healthy snack this one time. Tell her from now on she needs to start bedtime early so she can do whatever she needs to do ahead of time. Stick to it.

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3. Your child tells you to “shut up” so you:

a. Get mad and tell your child he or she is grounded from the TV, computer games and playing outside after school for an entire month.

b. Pretend you didn’t hear it.

c. Tell your child it’s not okay to talk to you like that. Make him or her apologize before having any further interaction with him or her.

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4. If your kids won’t do their chores, you:

a. Get mad, give them “what for” and stand over them while they do the chores under your watch.

b. Give in because you can’t stand fighting with them over something so silly.

c. Remind them they need to be responsible. Set a day or time when you’d like the chores finished. Tell them the consequences if the chores aren’t done by then (i.e., loss of a privilege).

Question Title

5. If your kids get in trouble, you:

a. Get mad and punish them.

b. Cross your fingers and hope it won’t happen again.

c. Discipline them and, later on, talk about making better choices so they can stay clear of trouble.

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6. Your child has a tantrum. Your reaction is to:

a. Stamp your foot and yell at him or her to stop!

b. Give in to whatever he or she wants just to put an end to the crying.

c. Walk away without giving in. Later on, when your child is calmer, explain some better ways he or she can show frustration.

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7. Your son wants a toy he sees at the store. You:

a. Yell at him that you’re not buying another thing for him—he’s got everything he needs already.

b. Buy it for him. Why not?

c. Say no, but encourage him to save up his allowance. Tell him you’ll bring him back so he can buy it then.

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8. Your four-year old daughter has a nightmare and comes into your room crying in the middle of the night. You:

a. Get angry and tell her to go back to bed instantly.

b. Let her climb into bed with you “just this once” (even though you’ve always said she couldn’t). You need the peace and quiet.

c. Calmly walk her back to her bed. Help her quiet down and get back to sleep by rubbing her back for a few minutes.

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9. To sum up parenting:

a. If you spare the rod, you’ll spoil the child.

b. Give in to your kids—life will teach them what works and what doesn’t.

c. Teach your kids why rules are important and help them learn to make good choices.

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10. If you were to describe the parent-child relationship, you would say:

a. “Love is a battlefield.”

b. Childhood is so short, why shouldn’t I do everything to make my child happy?

c. I’m a teacher and mentor. My job is to prepare my child for life.

How to score:

Add up how many A's, B's and C's you have. The highest number will match up with your parenting style.

Click the "Check your score" button below to view definitions for each parenting styl.