As parents, we may often wonder how best to raise our children and what kind of adults they will turn out to be.
After all, there’s no telling what might happen in the future.
However, as our kids grow older, we can find, discover, and acquire the skills necessary to deal with them most effectively.
There are so many different parenting styles available that it’s difficult to know which one works best.
Some methods may work for a few months and then lose their effectiveness. It’s simply because children, like adults, can change because of various factors.
To be honest, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to parenting.
I frequently question whether I’m making the right decision when it comes to how I handle my children. I’m not sure if I’m being too gentle, too harsh, too concerned, or not concerned at all.
So, you’re probably wondering where I’m going with this. Well, in the spirit of the Year of the Water Rabbit, I’d like to share another parenting approach that involves Chinese zodiac signs.
It is well known that each year in the Chinese calendar is symbolised by one of the 12 zodiac animals: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig.
This is significant for people of Chinese cultural background and in Chinese communities around the world.
Since this is the Water Rabbit year, I feel especially drawn to talk about my experience as a rabbit mum raising three children who all have different zodiac animals.
Continue reading to find out what all of this is about.
Let’s First Learn About the Personality of a Rabbit Mum
I was intrigued to discover what the Chinese zodiac predicted about the personality of a rabbit mum. It’s interesting to see which traits actually corresponds with me.
There are numerous descriptions available online, but here is some interesting info from Women’s Health,
- Rabbits are born in 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011
- Rabbits are known to have great taste and are lovers of the fine arts. (I think I do ;p)
- They are also friendly, sensitive, artistic, and even-tempered, making them popular with friends. (The sensitive part is true ~Ha!)
- Enjoy being around other people and dislike being alone, so they try to adapt to any social situation. (Not really, I’m an introvert ;s)
- Love romance and are great in relationships, but they dislike confrontation and will go out of their way to avoid it. (This, I vouch for!)
Another is from POPSUGAR, which claims that a rabbit mum’s imagination can get wild. She loves reading bedtime stories to children and enjoys them just as much as they do. A storyteller who appreciates nothing more than watching her children dream. She also understands the importance of nature for children and is always willing to take them to the park. Sometimes, she doesn’t always place many restrictions on what they can and cannot do, so her kids can be a bit of a handful.
I’m not sure about you, but as a mummy rabbit, I’d say about 80% of these describe the type of mother I am to my children!
I actually do give in a lot to my kids and tend to allow them to have free will. I’ll go into more detail about how I, as a rabbit mum, interact with my children down below.
Now that my rabbit part is done, let’s get into the specifics of my children’s characteristics based on their Chinese zodiac signs.
Characteristics of My Kids Based on Their Chinese Zodiacs
According to Chinese astrology, your child’s birth year can affect a range of factors, including their personalities, strengths, and compatibility with other signs.
A Chinese zodiac calculator can help you determine which animal sign your children belong to.
I calculated for my children and discovered the following characteristics of their zodiac signs:
Eldest (Daughter) – Snake
Year: 2013
Personality traits: Wise, graceful, calm, mystic, shrewd. Can be a loner, bad communicator, possessive, distrustful.
Fascinating Facts:
- Chinese Zodiac Snake children valued logic, hard work, and good reasoning, making them adept at schoolwork.
- Little Snake is a natural charmer who can turn it on and off like a light switch. Fortunately, they don’t often use this to manipulate circumstances.
- They are very generous to others, approaching life from a philosophical standpoint guided by intuition.
- Snakes only bite when other people fall short or are deceptive. Aside from that, they are completely at ease with themselves.
- Snake children are blissfully capable of handling verbal bullying. After all, this child has a ton of fans who will remind the Snake of their wonderful personality and traits.
- This idolisation continues into adulthood and may even lead to a life of fame, which is ideal for those born in the Chinese Zodiac Year of the Snake.
- They evaluate every situation with scepticism. Prudence prevails in this case, and Snake usually makes the right decisions.
- People find Snake children to be thoughtful, peaceful, and spellbinding. They adhere steadfastly to philosophy or Path.
Middle (Son) – Sheep/Goat
Years: 2015
Personality traits: Righteous, honest, shy, artistic, understanding. Can be moody, a worrier, a complainer, and soft.
Fascinating Facts:
- Children born in the Chinese Animal Year of the Sheep have a shy, sweet demeanour.
- They would rather be in the background than in the spotlight. They only really want to shine on special occasions.
- Little Lamb appears to live mentally in the clouds in some ways. He or she enjoys pondering various topics, which makes them happy.
- Sheep kids enjoy dressing up for various occasions. They will meticulously inspect every lock of hair. This neat, composed exterior view helps to soothe their inner struggles and insecurity.
- They adore the arts, as well as learning and teaching. This is the child who demonstrates how to tie their shoes and make a pretty bow!
- Each Lamb child has a sense of organisation in their personal space.
- The Sheep child can be a little tense. They become worry warts when they do not ‘feel the love’ around them.
- Sensitivity follows Sheep throughout their lives, sometimes resulting in anxiety. They have a safe place to unwind because they have their hidey-hole.
- Almost all Sheep-born children like to take charge of situations when they should simply let go and BE.
Youngest (Daughter) – Pig
Year: 2019
Personality traits: Simple, hardworking, strong, peace-loving, trusting. Can be naive, gullible, materialistic, clingy.
Fascinating Facts:
- Children born under the Chinese Animal Sign of the Pig are very gentle.
- They are comfortable in the company of peers or being completely alone.
- Pig is not a clingy child. Rather, they are constantly reflecting on recent experiences to put them into context.
- Year of the Pig children focus on their goals rather than their speed.
- If they handle things responsibly and cautiously, problems should resolve themselves.
- When dealing with the Pig child, people must remain calm and trusting.
- Your Piglet child will be an excellent conversationalist. Part of this ability stems from a natural empathy for others. They just seem to know what to say and when to say it.
(Source: Kiddle, Building Beautiful Souls)
So, How Do I As a Rabbit Mum Handle Each Kid?
What I realised after reading about all the characteristics and traits based on the animal zodiac, is that we should be aware of both the good and the bad.
Only then can you determine how to support positive traits so they stand out more and how to manage negative traits so they don’t dominate the kids.
Some things about how my kids behave make sense now that I’ve read all the descriptions. It’s a part of who they are.
Here, I’ll share just a few of the situations that have occurred with my kids, as well as how I handle any issues or improve my parenting style.
Eldest (Daughter) – Snake
- She gets along well with everyone, even those she just met. On numerous occasions, she has received gifts of chocolate, bread, and various other items from strangers. I know she’s overjoyed, but I keep reminding her about stranger danger.
- My daughter is very generous with food, toys, and money. She donated every time her teacher collects donations for any organisations. I also recall her delight when we did spring cleaning and she got to choose which toys to donate. I always support her, but I also tell her that while what she’s doing is admirable, she should be cautious about who she helps.
- She came home from school one day and told me she was kicked out of her BFF group. I was worried sick thinking about how she would be affected as the Rabbit mummy who despises being left out. She actually stood up in front of the group and told them she wasn’t wrong. She then voluntarily left their Teams group chat, and the next thing I know, she’s in a different BBF group. :’) I’m learning to trust that she knows how to deal with her classmates and will notify me if anything goes wrong.
- When she wants something, she goes all out to get it. Just a few months ago, she said she wanted to save RM1,000! We were surprised and told her that would take her years of not spending her lunch money. We were surprised and told her that would cost her years of lunch money. That doesn’t deter her because she took a bag and began saving money in it. Of course, I wanted to encourage and support her in reaching her goal, so instead of just giving her money, I will sometimes give her monetary rewards for certain tasks.
Middle (Son) – Sheep/Goat
- I have to keep my cool around him because I don’t want him to think I don’t care about him. Worse, he may believe I prefer his sisters. I’m not only dealing with a Goat kid but one with middle-child syndrome! When it comes to dealing with his emotions, both my husband and I are very cautious. However, we continue to remind him that crying will not solve everything and teach him how to properly communicate his feelings.
- My son is kind to everyone. I’ve never had a single complaint about him since he was in nursery school and until now in primary school. Teachers always compliment him on how nice and quiet he is. He also gets along well with the other children. Even if someone bullied him, he would not intervene. That’s one thing that worries me, so I always ask if anything has happened at school.
- He is shy around people, but once close, he can be very clingy. For example, he has an uncle with whom he is very close but does not see very often. So, every time he said goodbye, he cried his eyes out. I was initially frustrated by his constant crying, but I soon realised it was his coping mechanism. Now, I’d let him cry first, then ask what would make him feel better. Ice cream usually does the trick.
- When things don’t go his way or his sisters are picking on him, he can get really moody. But he never hit his sisters back and always gave in to them. I realised that he sometimes does it forcibly because he doesn’t want his sisters to cry. So, I would intervene to tell the sisters not to do that to their brother and ask them to apologise.
Youngest (Daughter) – Pig
- My youngest is only turning four years old this year, so there aren’t many personalities to be seen. One of the most obvious is that she can be friendly to strangers. For example, while we were walking through the mall, she would randomly say hello or goodbye to people. Several weeks ago, we were at a dining park, and I let her play nearby with her siblings. Suddenly, I noticed her sitting with these two ladies, trying to strike up a conversation with them and see what they were eating. I almost had a heart attack and realised I can’t take my eyes away from them at any time.
- She’s a screamer! I’m not sure if that’s just the threenager in her or a trait. Hopefully not, and she’ll grow out of it. It’s difficult to figure out what she wants because she gets irritated easily if people don’t understand her. Furthermore, if anyone, and I mean anyone, gets in her way, she will yell and start acting up. :s When dealing with her, I have to keep a cool head so she calms down and listens to what I say.
- However, she is extremely helpful. She is always willing to assist me when I am putting groceries away, moving things around, or cleaning the house. When she sees me doing something, she comes over and says she wants to help. I always let her lend a hand and praise her for being helpful so as not to discourage her efforts.
Parents Must Learn How to Better Parent Their Children
That’s about it from my experience with my non-Rabbit kids.
For me, the Chinese zodiac is just another way to experiment with parenting because, at the end of the day, we parents play a role in how our children behave.
Whatever parenting style you choose, you will always need to understand your kids before determining the best way to parent them.
That being said, never stop looking and never give up because your children need you now more than ever. 
Keep your heads up, Mummies!
Motherhood wishes you and your family a Happy Chinese New Year full of love and prosperity, Gong Xi Fa Cai!