So I’d imagine most of you that will read this post are already aware that a people are either introverts or extroverts. There are however, some people that don’t necessarily fall into one or the other. Those people are known as ambiverts.
I see myself as an ambivert, as I come across confident in a number of situations and scenarios (a large amount of that confidence is a smoke screen for my generalised anxiety, but that’s another story entirely). I’ve done acting and public speaking in the past, if I’m passionate about something then I will make myself heard.
I’m also extremely reserved, and keep a lot of my thoughts and feelings to myself. I’m very much a home body, and if I’m around big groups of people I can feel my energy levels go down until I’m on empty and completely retreat into myself. So I’m often much happier just being by myself or with my boys. I think for this reason I fall slightly more into the introvert side of things, but not enough to say “yes I’m 100% an introvert”.
From reading I’ve done on parenting as an ambivert, a lot of parents that identify as ambiverts say that they struggle with getting the alone time that they need, as this is quite difficult when you have children who just want to be with you 24/7. If Grayson is in full on mode where he wants to keep moving and thinking and creating, then I do feel like I need to sit alone and reset. I am very lucky though in the fact that if Grayson is in a loving/calming mood, I find this helps bring up my energy levels.
I definitely struggle more as an ambivert in the social side of things since becoming a parent, going to social events where I know that I’m going to be constantly compared to other parents and Grayson is going to be compared makes my energy levels drop before I even enter the room. I also find it difficult to have some of the confidence that I have in other situations.
I definitely think Grayson is currently an ambivert, as he’s very reserved in a lot of situations but will show a lot of confidence in others. I was definitely much more of an extrovert as a child, so it will be interesting to see if Grayson stays this way (as he’s still so young) or if he’ll change.
Would you say you’re an introvert, extrovert or ambivert? And if you have children, what do you think they are?
Introvert.