There’s been a lot of talk about personality types recently. Type A and Type B have taken most of the spotlight as they contrast so sharply with each other. Writing for Medical News Today, Beth Sissons explained that people with type A personalities may have traits like ambition, impatience, competitiveness, and aggression. On the other hand, people with type B personalities may be easygoing, laid back, and friendly.
Then, there’s the less-discussed Type C personality. Sissons said people with this personality type are more prone to introversion, stress, and depression. Those with type C personalities are good people who care, but they struggle. They aren’t quite put together like type A people, and they aren’t nearly as relaxed as type B people.
As the personality types circulate on the internet, many moms are admitting to indeed being type C, and sharing the characteristics that put them in that category. Here are a few signs you were raised by a Type C mom who cared with all her heart, even while she silently struggled.
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Did your mom always clean areas like the living room and kitchen, but leave bedrooms be? Or, maybe she always did the laundry but never put it away? Whatever the case, there’s a good chance that you were raised by a Type C mom if she focused her cleaning efforts on strategic parts of the house that visitors were more likely to see, or made an effort to clean but never quite seemed to get the job done.
The connection between your mom’s personality and how tidy her house is is a complicated one. Type C personalities are more prone to depression and stress. Verywell Mind writer Sherri Gordon noted that decluttering and keeping your space neat can help improve your mental health. However, mental health conditions like depression can also make cleaning more difficult.
So, if your mom is trying really hard, she’s likely to do some cleaning. It just might not make much of a difference if she has a Type C personality. Instead, you may have found that your mom did the best she could to keep the house clean and actively worked on it, but it was still always a little messy. And, really, there’s nothing wrong with that.
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Several moms who shared their Type C personality stories on TikTok admitted to packing a diaper bag only to forget it, or checking it repeatedly to make sure it had everything necessary, but then leaving the house without wipes. Clearly, a mom who makes sure she packs a diaper bag is doing a good job and doing something essential. Unfortunately, the stress of all that she’s going through can lead to a little bit of forgetfulness.
Lisa Franks, LCSW, shared that from what she sees, many Type C moms were actually Type A once upon a time, but parenting pushed them to become less organized and mix with the Type B personality a bit.
“I often see ‘Type C’ traits in moms who were once classic Type A — organized, detail-oriented, used to having a plan — but who’ve been softened by the realities (and chaos) of motherhood,” Franks explained.
A Type A mom would hardly ever forget a diaper bag unless she had a very good reason to be distracted, but a Type B mom who’s a little more laid back would just go with the flow if she did. Type C moms are a mix of both, where they vigilantly prepare the diaper bag for use, but sometimes forget it, even when they try their best. If your mom occasionally forgot the essentials, she was probably Type C.
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Another hallmark of Type C moms is that they procrastinate and save tasks until the very last minute. But then, of course, they manage to get them done, because they’re moms and it’s just what they do. The process might not be very pleasant because it involves a lot of stress, but she still does her best and gets the important things taken care of.
Franks went on to describe Type C moms as being a mix of forces we often think of as opposing, which can actually be a positive for their children.
“It gives kids both the security of structure and the warmth of flexibility,” she said. “This style teaches children that being human is okay, that love and connection matter more than perfection.”
So, type C moms will always do whatever it is that they need to. They just may not do it in the most timely or logical manner. Instead, they wait until the last minute, when they have absolutely no other choice. They’re still doing their best because they’re still getting the thing done. They just do it on their own timeline, which means they aren’t super women, and that’s okay.
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If you were raised by a type C mom, she might have been one to serve up both fresh produce and sweet treats. Or, maybe she was strict about screen time … except for the times that she wasn’t. Whatever it may have looked like for your family, Type C moms like to make healthy choices for their kids, but sometimes they get caught up in the craziness of life and take the easier route instead.
This is only natural, of course. Nothing is ever perfect, and it would be wrong to try to make it so. Marriage and family therapist Cheryl Groskopf, LMFT, LPCC, pointed out that a mix of being overly detailed and not really caring can be good. “Think of it as a mix of intentional structure and emotional flexibility — which, by the way, is basically the holy grail of good-enough parenting,” she said. “Not perfect, not laissez-faire — just good enough to raise healthy, self-trusting humans.”
The whole point of parenting is that all you really have to be is good enough. Parents may feel pressure to be perfect, but it is not required, nor is it expected. Caring about your kids is more important than doing everything right. If you felt loved growing up, but there was still a little chaos, then your mom may very well have been Type C.
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A mom with a Type C personality is likely to rely on a mix of reminders and her memory. For example, if there was an appointment, she was definitely going to be there. She just needed some kind of reminder notice from the doctor’s office. On the other hand, Type C moms are also more likely to fly by the seat of their pants than plan things out carefully. They may make lists like Type A moms, but they won’t really use them. Instead, they’ll just count on their memory to get them through.
Licensed mental health counselor Sam Noble shared that Type C personalities tend to lean more towards logistics. “A type C personality … they’re going to consider their strengths to be intellectual, their rational faculties, their ability to sort of logic things out,” Noble said. This means that Type C people are very rational, clear thinkers.
This may be a plus for Type C moms who prefer to rely on their memory. It implies that they are clear-headed enough to do so. Despite the chaos surrounding them, they can dial into what is most important and make it their primary focus. That allows their memory to serve them well. Every now and then, they just need the slight nudge that a reminder brings. Neither tactic is wrong, and both are signs of a caring mother.
If you felt like your mom was always in a hurry to get somewhere, there’s a good chance she was Type C. Many moms noted that they weren’t necessarily late to events, but they were just always in a hurry to get there. Maybe they had poor time management, or maybe they just always felt like they were behind. Whatever the case, they always seem to be in a rush.
If a mom is always in a rush with no real reason to be, it could be a sign of hurry sickness. Healthline writer Crystal Raypole defined this as “a pressing need to hurry through tasks and make the most of every moment.” Hurry sickness can be a sign, or even a symptom, of that stress that people with Type C personalities tend to have. In that way, feeling the need to rush makes sense for a Type C mom.
Type C personalities are naturally just a bit more stressed out than Types A and B, so it does make sense that they would always feel the need to rush. Whether it’s hurry sickness or just some generalized anxiety, moms who are type C are more likely to feel the need to move as fast as possible. But, somehow, they always end up right where they need to be.
Type A and Type B personalities are talked about frequently, but there’s a third personality type that’s a mix of them both. Type C moms are detail-oriented while also being laid back and letting things go when it’s necessary. They aren’t perfect mothers, but they care about their children deeply, and that’s all that really matters.
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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
