Good parenting skills identify when the Mask Eight child attempts to show love by power and guarding those they value.

Good parenting skills and orientation of M8s:

* Can use their natural leadership and amazing energy to stand against injustice.

* Have the ability to strengthen others and bring out their best.

* Can be profoundly or deeply caring and loving.

* Can be protective.

Bad parenting habits and tendencies:

* Can be mistrusting.

* Bullies who strong-arm and push people around.

* Can be transgressors.

* Unaware of the feelings of others.

* To get their own way, they may use force, violence, lies and manipulation.

* Those with good parenting skills will see that M8s have an 'all or nothing' approach to life.

* M8s are judgemental, their judging taking on extremes; there is no middle ground.

* With their approach of 'there are no greys', M8s can overlook their own shortcomings and imperfections. This ability carries great force when applied correctly and when serving others.

* M8s are demanding and can come over as aggressive. They are comfortable with having a fight; their aim is to get the truth out. They enjoy knowing the truth. Their fighting has a purpose according to their thinking.

* When M8s deny others their point of view, they can lose track of objective truth, favouring their own idea of truth and thereby aiding their own plans.

* As leaders, M8s are very protective over those they care for.

* They are very aware of their thoughts, likes and dislikes.

* Their caring concerns are with justice and fairness. They are willing to put their money where their concerns are. They will stand up for what they believe in, if they feel it is needed.

* M8s will go to extremes in the pursuit of pleasure. Pleasure could be anything from drinking socially to an intellectual discussion.

* M8s are very aware of power and understanding where it lies.

* They can be dominating, making sure others don't control them. This can lead to boundary issues in their relationships, especially in the way they protect themselves. They may not consider the weaker party's point of view and coupled to this is their belief in aggression.

* M8s can channel their power constructively in the diligent and loyal support of a worthy cause.

* M8s decided as children that to survive in this threatening world, they needed to be stronger than everyone else.

* To them, those that are strong are valued: They perceive this to be true that in life the weak get hurt and looked down upon. M8s stay strong internally, refusing to accept or believe their own vulnerability. This denial also protects M8s from the soul destroying awareness that their focus of attention produces the very reaction and conduct they detest in others: 1) Domination; 2) Insensitivity; 3) Unfairness.

* M8s have their own internal reference point: This means they will only act on their own judgement and personal perspective. As they choose to act on their own judgement they tend to deny their own genuine needs and meaning in life by following the goals of other people, helping friends, or chasing after personal pleasure.

Challenges:

* M8s move towards M5 when life is out of control and they feel they are weak and exposed. They become more withdrawn and need time to gather their thoughts.

* M8s can have prolonged periods of seemingly not bouncing back from a situation; they need to withdraw from this position or sink their efforts in pleasant activities such as reading.

* M8s might become so absorbed that they become passive and avoid talking or sharing their feelings.

Relationships:

* M8s enjoy friends and desire lifelong friendships.

* They can be accumulative with things and friends, not always realising this could mean they claim ownership and desire to control or dominate.

* When M8s feel relaxed with their safe friends, they could become more like M2s. This can make them more open about things that matter to them. They also then become more generous. They tend to be be increasingly more guarding and protective.

* Thoughts of friendships failing can lead to doubts and later hostility with a feeling of being drained.

* M8 children should be taught to keep a journal, encouraging them to jot down things they learn about themselves.

* They are prone to drowning themselves in social activities, forgetting what is really valuable from day to day, that is, schoolwork, family time, spiritual growth and so on.

* Parents of M8s need to be open to the fact that M8s can be bossy and easily resort to bullying.

* M8s need to learn that good leaders need to be good followers.

* They need to learn to accept that there are different angles and opinions that need to be considered. In their stubbornness, M8s need to learn to breathe.

* Meditation is good for M8s and they need to learn to resist the impulse to get up and go; that is to practice self-control or self-discipline.

Back to good parenting skills.