Patience as a Parent

I have always believed that patience is a virtue. I am extremely patient with people and situations. I mean come on, over 4 hours commuting a day in the city and a busy highway, I must have a lot of patience! I have always believed that good things come to those who wait!

But having patience as a parent........that's a huge battle of it's own!

Believe me, I try my hardest and bite my tongue, but sometimes there is days where I have no patience with Hailey. She has always been pretty independent. She likes to do things on her own, in her own way, and on her own time. She has no problem rushing me and crying because I am not fast enough to jump up and get her a drink. But do you want to meet the slowest child when it comes to doing things you want to her to do, then meet Hailey! You constantly have to push her a long. When it comes to getting dressed, getting ready for the shower, coming when you call her, or the nightly nightmare of brushing her teeth, she is super slow and does not want to be rushed!

Even though I get infuriated with her from time to time, I have to remind myself that she is only 5 years old and is still learning. For example the other night she was practicing reading a book that she had to take to read in front of the class. I read the book once to her, then sat as she read it another 10 or so times practicing. The child could not remember the word "it". And "it" was on every page! Even the 10th time reading "Biscuit and the Lost Teddy Bear" she was still struggling with "it". By the end, I just wanted to scream "IT"!!!!!! But I tried my hardest to maintain my cool, because I know she is still learning. Then at the very last page on the last time through, she couldn't figure out the name "Biscuit". Seriously, I was dying inside as she whined and moaned about figuring out this word, another word that was literally on every page and that she had read fine the whole entire time. I swear if I had to hear that book one more time, I was going to throw it out the window! Ahhhhhh! The whole process was driving me nuts. But you know, even though I was screaming inside, I was very calmly talking to her and helping her a long on the outside. Because she is just five years old, and just starting out with reading.

I wish I could display more patience more often. There are times I scream and yell at her, you know at the moments she is pushing all my buttons or continues to do something I specifically said not to! Sometimes I can get angry and mean. And though she doesn't seem to let it phase her much, I still end up feeling bad about it!

So why is it so hard to be patient with others, but not your own children? This is something that I need to work on! I don't want to be the scary mean mommy! I want to be the calm mommy who my child knows she can always come to. Hopefully it is something I can work on!