ENTPs are rational people who often choose to have their children later in life because of their more pressing need to explore the world. But when they do have children, the ENTPs fascination for solving problems often drives them to be very good parents who focus on encouraging their children to be independent, rational members of society.
General Overview
ENTPs are logical thinkers who sometimes find it a little difficult to be parents. Dealing with a child, with their erratic emotions and demands, can be difficult for this type. They also find it hard to be tied to one place and to routines, both necessary things with young children, and may struggle with the constraints of the role. For these reasons, ENTPs often put off having children until later in their lives, preferring to spend their early years exploring the world with all its new ideas and experiences. But once they do decide to have children, they’re as dedicated in their own way to their children’s welfare as any other type.
“ENTPs are logical thinkers who sometimes find it a little difficult to be parents. Dealing with a child, with their erratic emotions and demands, can be difficult for this type.”
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Household Organization and Discipline
ENTPs don’t like rules or routines and usually don’t set them up for their children either. ENTPs would prefer that their children have the freedom to grow and learn in the way that’s most natural for them and focus on providing an environment that’s rich with stimulation and ideas.
But despite this dislike for routine, ENTPs are surprising strict parents, with a clear idea of good and bad behavior. They prefer not to shield their children from the consequences of their choices and like them to learn the implications of their choices through experience. An ENTP values rational thought above all else, and this makes them believe that people must make their choices rationally and with all the information possible. And experiencing the real consequences of bad behavior is one of the best ways they can think of to give their children as much information as they can.
The ENTP and Emotional Support
ENTPs will struggle to give emotional support to their children. Their tertiary function is extraverted feeling, which means that their emotions are usually buried until they come out in a burst when they’re frustrated or angry. This is not an area in which ENTPs have much skill, and they usually struggle to understand their own emotions let alone those of the people around them. ENTPs will instead encourage their children to be independent and handle their emotions on their own. This won’t usually work when their children are young, so ENTPs often benefit from having a partner who is more in tune with emotions and can handle this aspect of parenting.
The ENTPs Engagement Level
ENTPs are fairly practical people despite their need for freedom, and understand that children have needs that sometimes must come first. Their rational minds will automatically prioritize the needs in their household and ensure that they do all they can to meet their children’s needs. To this end, they’ll probably attend all the big events and activities, though they’ll usually be bored within minutes and looking for something to occupy their minds.
Where ENTPs will excel will be in their child’s academic life. The ENTP parent will always be there to help them with homework and teach them where necessary, and no one will be prouder than the ENTP when their child receives an award of some kind for their academic achievements. To an ENTP, rational thought is the only sensible way to think and they’ll encourage this kind of thinking in every way possible.
“Where ENTPs will excel will be in their child’s academic life. The ENTP parent will always be there to help them with homework and teach them where necessary, and no one will be prouder than the ENTP when their child receives an award of some kind for their academic achievements.”
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The ENTP and SJ Children
ENTPs will often struggle to connect with and understand their SJ children. SJs are strongly connected to the past, to tried and true ways of doing things, which conflicts with the ENTPs connection to the future and its possibilities. SJs also require a lot of structure and routine to feel safe and happy and ENTPs will struggle both to provide this and to live within its confines.
The ENTP and SP Children
ENTPs will be able to have grand adventures with their SP children. SPs use extraverted sensing, which drives them to explore the external world and to be autonomous and ENTPs will understand, respect and encourage these needs. In fact, ENTPs work hard to instill these values into their children by their own example and curiosity about the world, and will be very proud of their SP children who seem to understand their values naturally. SP children will often thrive in the unstructured world of an ENTP parent and will thoroughly enjoy the kind of autonomous care they provide.
The ENTP and NF Children
ENTPs aren’t very emotionally intelligent. Their auxiliary function is introverted thinking, which gathers data that is completely divorced from emotional content. As a result, they’re not often very good at understanding their own emotions and will struggle with NF children. NF children use a feeling function to make decisions and see the world very differently from an ENTP. This difference may fascinate the ENTP at times, but it will also be a source of frustration for ENTPs. And that particularly applies during the teenaged years when their emotional children are driven by impulses and emotions that are even more unpredictable than ever. Healthy ENTPs will learn to see these differences as a challenge, a problem to be solved, and may even learn a little something from their child who sees the world so differently to how they see it.
The ENTP and NT Children
ENTPs will find NT children easier to understand and raise than other types. Because ENTPs are so rational, they usually have trouble with the overly emotional natures of other types. NTs, with their preference for logical thought and information, will easily satisfy the NTs need for rational thought and consideration in their children above all else. ENTP parents also offer an unexpected benefit for NT children who use introverted intuition as their dominant or auxiliary. Because the ENTP uses extraverted intuition as their dominant, it drives them to get out and explore the world. And the ENTP parent will be very careful to include their children in their explorations and will delight in sharing new experiences with them. And for people who use introverted intuition and have the tendency to live more in their heads, this can be an unexpected bonus.
Final Thoughts
ENTPs want their children to be independent and rational. This desire drives most of the decisions they make as parents and will dictate how they interact with their children. This may conflict with their children’s needs and wants depending on their type, but the ENTPs influence will still encourage them to develop these aspects of their personality and become autonomous, logically minded adults.
References
- Priebe Heidi. “How Each Congnitive Function Manifests Based On Its Position In Your Stacking“. Dec 17, 2015. (Retrieved Feb 2018).
- “Podcast – Episode 0030 – Introverted Intuition vs Extraverted Intuition“. Sep 8, 2014. (Retrieved Feb 2018).
- “ENTP – The Inventor“.