by far, even harder than teaching my children to share, the hardest thing i’ve had to try to teach my children, as yet, has been patience.
i feel like i say “in a second…” or “you’ll have to wait a minute” or, my favorite, “mommy, has her hands in raw chicken. if you’d like your toy now, i’d be more than happy to give it to you, along with a nice dose of salmonella” more than i say anything else these days.
“I want a drink” (or, if you are my sophisticated 6-year-old, you’d hear, “i want some cold, fresh water with ice!”) “I want to play NickJr.com!” “I NEED my ballet slippers!” “I! Wah! ma! Dora! Bookck!” (that one is Isabella, even she is getting on the impatience game)
I get it. we live in an impatient, fast-paced, instant gratification kind of world. i don’t like to wait. the husband doesn’t like to wait. how do i help them realize that sitting and screaming “Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!” while i’m on the phone is NOT the way to get what they want. what it actually is is a quick way to annoy the crap out of mommy. and they sooo don’t get the finger-hold-up. you know what i’m talking about. you are on the phone and someone’s trying to get your attention. holding your finger up, for some reason, is the universal symbol for “hold on a minute”
i’ve realized, recently, that in order to teach my kids to be patient, i must be patient in front of them. model it. so, i’m trying not to be annoyed in traffic. and i’m trying to sit quietly while it takes my son 45 minutes to get his boots on (it’s not easy, i tell you. it is, in fact, quite easy to get antsy and then just put them on for him myself).
i’ve also realized that i need to teach my children to get their own drinks. i don’t know why, but it feels like i’m always getting someone a drink. cold, fresh water for Emily. chocolate milk for Josh. a ‘rink for Isabella (seriously, that’s now one of my favorite things she says…”where’s ma ‘rink?”) even a can of pop for the husband. why is everyone so freakin’ thirsty in my house???
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