the Normal Person* guide to a Cat Type Thinking* child (and elder)

The Cat cat-type thinking child will be an easy child to care for until they reach mid-teens. Boys will start looking for more freedom a little earlier than girls, but both boys and girls will stop asking for your permission the day they turn 18. And you should let them. In any culture, where the parent cannot be held legally responsible for the actions of the adult child – as it should be – you can and have to let your adult child make their own decisions. You will risk breaking up the entire family if you do not.

The Savants* will not be taking responsibility for other adults in the family. You can only ever expect them to care for their younger siblings (as long as they’re under 18) and family members who are disabled or have special needs. Other than that, do not make great expectations on them in regards to taking care of their family.

Give your Cat Type Thinking* teens and adult children enough freedom, and they’ll reward you with “gold”

Consider them scouts and wealth-bringers. Give them enough freedom, and they’ll “find gold” for you. You don’t have to ask them to; they will, or they’ll die trying – UNLESS you make it harder for them than it needs to be, in which case you’ll lose your control over them and any profits they might have made for you. They will work for you, but NOT if you limit their freedom to choose their options; if you try to control who they befriend or date, let alone marry, they will rebel, and you will lose control of them.

Cat Type Thinking* children and adults don’t aspire to be you when they grow up.

They will be EASY and non-testy children and teens; they’ll show a lot of maturity and willingness to play along early on, but they will never take much interest in minding the home and day-to-day duties. Their interest is simply not in the home. If you fight that fact, you will lose.

Your only option is to let the Cat Type Thinking* child grow in whatever direction they choose. They are internally directed, focused, and motivated. They are destined to do great things but will rebel or commit suicide under the control imposed on them at too old age.

Cat Type Thinking* children will hate strict rules.

If unsure, test your children in this manner, while they are still children: Impose stricter rules than their peers. How do they react? An Savant*, although they will comply, they won’t be happy about it. They will seem agitated, they’ll come home on time, but they’ll likely lock themselves in their room and act pissed off. A Lover-thinking* child will seem pleased that you care. They are being taken better care of than other children, and that makes them feel special and more loved than average children.

You may also try teaching them a gender-typical role: Cooking for girls and mechanical skills for boys. An Savant* will find this annoying and old-fashioned. Their attention span will be short and forced. They’ll TRY but they’ll be fuming and impatient. A Normal Person* will be excited and willing to learn as much as possible.

Cat Type Thinking* children and teens are not stupid, but their even genius attention is elsewhere, and you might not fully understand where. Let them go wherever they wish; they’ll look after themselves. Discourage gender transitioning and marriages they plan to enter if they’re temporarily lost hope for a more suitable match.

Cat Type Thinking* children don’t appreciate you chiming in on their life decisions.

Your Lover-thinking* teens will appreciate any and all help and input you might have for choosing a career or partner. A Cat Type Thinking* child won’t tolerate either, and you shouldn’t try to make them. IF you offer an opinion, direct them toward higher ambition – but let them decide what is “higher”. It may not be University etc. DO NOT EVER imagine you can take the pressure off by telling a Savants* they do not need to aim high, let alone that they don’t have that ability. You’ll only make them work harder.

You can impose very strict rules and guidelines for a Lover-thinking* child, the stricter the better, but go very very easy and light with a Savants*. The less you control a Savants*, the better parent they think you are. Interfere only when you are GENUINELY worried about their choices; the danger must be real. You also need to be able to tell them exactly WHAT IT IS that you fear will happen if they keep to their path. If you don’t know what you’re worried about, don’t even bother stopping them.

Critique to a Savants* means you think they’re dumb, not that you think they’re special or loved.

Also remember that EVERY TIME you stop them from doing something, you’re telling them that you believe they are so stupid that they’ll kill themselves or embarrass the family BADLY doing that, therefore, be certain that every time you interfere in your Cat Type Thinking* teen’s life, you know it’s worth it. They will feel embarrassed or offended if you see the need to direct them. NEVER do it thinking THEY will think it’s a favor or a compliment. They will possibly hate you for it, but sometimes you have to take that for their good.

Discourage their tendency to be TOO KIND to others.

That said, the Savants* are often very self-aware and they get better at watching over themselves every year. Their weakness is being too kind and helpful to others, so you might want to discourage that when you see them being TOO nice to someone who isn’t at their level. You’ll also want to encourage them to be more ambitious when selecting career paths and romantic partners – they often under-estimate their own worth for the sake of being modest; NOT because they actually like average people let alone average jobs.

Elders.

Here’s a tip, tho. Cat Type Thinking* old people are just as unwilling to go down without a fight as they are in their teen years. Only another the Savants* will understand and RESPECT this need for autonomy. NEVER employ the Normal Person* to be the caretaker of a Cat Type Thinking* elder. They’ll smother the elder with their constant baby-sitting, and the Savants* are too proud to be baby sat at any age. They want the MINIMUM, not the maximum level of care at any age. They’ll begrudgingly agree that they can no longer do certain things, but that doesn’t mean a permission to swoop in and take over EVERYTHING they care about.

The Cat Type Thinking* elder will appreciate their time alone, their permission to do whatever they ever did in youth at the highest capacity they still can, and won’t give anyone any points for forcing them to sit in a fucking rocking chair for the rest of their days slowly going insane. You will KILL a Savants* in boredom if you try and make them sit still when they still have a pair of knees strong enough to stand up.

If you have to mix

Pair your children so that if elders need taking care of, let the Normal Person* care for the Normal Person* and the Savants* care for the Savants*. Any mixing either way is not a good idea, but if the Normal Person* has to take care of a Cat Type Thinking* elder, just please instruct them to keep their interference to the absolute minimum, and let the Savants* set the pace as much as possible. If they think you’re being overly protective, they’ll decide to do whatever they want to as soon as you look away, until they have an accident that proves the point to them… AND STILL you better not interfere any more than you have to.

(And if they ask for a blanket, give them a fucking blanket. XD)

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