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Phlegmatic or peaceful

Phlegmatic children live through their senses. They value safety, order and comfort. They are methodical and reliable. They take joy in rich sensory experiences, and tend to have good memories. They often appear soft, a bit round, and their skin usually feels warm and moist. Their favorite color is often green. Their element is water, and they tend to take joy in activities involving water. go to the Waldorf Parent's Forum

christopherus homeschooling logo"Phlegmatics are the solid ones - sometimes literally in their builds. They hang on. They can seem to be slow and are often very good natured - they are not fickle like sanguines or restless like cholerics or self obsessed like melancholics. They placidly regard the world and slowly decide what they are interested in. They will listen to any story - but getting something out of them can be a challenge. I have a strongly phlegmatic boy in the present sophomore class where I teach - he will literally count the words of the papers he writes and write not one more than required. So usually when he says "how long should the paper be" I say to him "As long as it needs to be to say what you need to say." He doesn't like that - but unlike a choleric who will be outraged by the seeming ambiguity of this requirement or the sanguine who will forget halfway what she was writing about anyway or the melancholic who will write exactly what she thinks is the right length no matter what the teacher says anyway, this typical phlegmatic just shrugs, smiles - and produces a very short paper!" go to christopherushomeschool

"Chances are you know a child like Sam. Sam, was a classmate of my daughter since kindergarten and I have watched him grow up. He is a sweet-natured kid. When he was young he was a really big boy with hands like mitts. His eyes used to almost pop out of his head with excitement when food was presented. Once, when my husband brought brownies to my daughter’s class in celebration of her birthday, Sam sized him up quickly, and befriended him immediately. While waiting, he sidled up to my husband and whispered, “We better eat those brownies soon before they go raw.” The well-being of those brownies were of his utmost concern. ...

"In the early years, one can often tell the phlegmatic children by body type along with behaviors. Phlegmatic infants are most likely roly-poly and slow and steady feeders. They are happy to lie in the crib cooing, playing with their hands and feet. With the introduction of solid food, they euphorically greet the oncoming spoon and are not easily distracted from eating. Phlegmatic children may take to walking and talking later than their peers and are generally easy-going. With the attainment of verbal skills, these children frequently say “I’m hungry.” Though most healthy young children are often hungry due to high growth demands, the phlegmatic’s request for food seems to come less from actual physical hunger and more from a desire to be eating and digesting. This seemingly constant refrain of “I’m hungry” becomes one of the greatest challenges to the parents of a phlegmatic child, especially if the parents do not share that temperamental tendency themselves. How does one respond to this repetitive declaration of hunger and cry for food? How does a parent distinguish between true physical hunger and emotional or digestive hunger? Does non-physical hunger lack validity and deserve to be ignored or denied? How many times can a mother just look her cherubic child in the face and say no? Phlegmatic children are quite endearing and can easily work their way into our hearts in Pooh-like fashion. Over restriction or over indulgence in feeding are both understandable reactions.

It is tempting to believe that we will one day whip all the children into proper shape by successful programming. It is also a commonly held belief that the overweight child is destined to a life of obesity. However, there may be more to be gained and less damage to be done from working with our children’s tendencies than fighting against them. I have observed many round kids morph into lean adolescents through a combination of factors including their genetic blueprint, hormonal changes and their own conscious ability to choose how to feed themselves. Sam is now sixteen. He is a high level competitive rower. I think he might now be described as highly buff. He recently told me, that once he discovered what he was interested in he found a way of eating that served his purpose. The gifts of the phlegmatics are many. They are compassionate, serene, steady individuals capable of faithful and abiding love. They often possess natural musical and artistic abilities, and in the final analysis are the true geniuses–the slow, steady and thoughtful thinkers of our times. By viewing such children through this more compassionate lens we can tend to their care more appropriately and be inspired to feed them well with good intention. [View source]

http://lifeseedsnutrition.com/tag/phlegmatic-temperament


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