Practicing . . . Patience
We've entered the 3-year-old stage of "Why? Why? Why?" literally every 30 seconds. Alternated only with "Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?"
I wish I could say I deal with the incessant questioning with Gwyneth-like serenity but that would probably require some dance aerobics and a cleanse.
Instead, it seems to bring out my not-so-nice self. In some sort of fit of retribution I decided that now is the time for C to give up her paci. (For real this time. Not like when I tried a year ago.) She seems excited by the prospect of a "special treat" and a new library book, but I know we're in for some rough nights.
So I'm trying to practice . . . patience.
One of my favorite blogs, zenhabits - I love their tagline "smile, breathe, & go slowly" - had 15 helpful tips for becoming as patient as Job. (I'm a little nervous about what my tally mark page will look like.)
Caroline went to bed and I went into her room about 12 times to give her water, find new books, turn the light off, put her blanket on, give more water, take the books out, turn the light on, put her blanket on again. And I stayed upstairs like she ordered me to. Patiently.
Does anyone else struggle with this? Any advice?
Quote from here and He Loves Me rug from Anthropologie
Labels: learning, patience, practicing, quotes
posted by Stephanie @ henry happened @ 8:19 PM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
Wow, patience is a tough one. Kudos to you Steph, I'm not ready to face the paci issue yet. I also struggle with patience, particularly as I start my own business, I'm having to pray for this little virtue every day, along with peace and faith (also struggles). I do find that prayer and journalling help some...
Hey Steph - I always start out strong and as the day goes by, so does the patience. My three are constantly talking, asking questions, needing my total attention. I find hiding in the bathroom for 5 minutes and breathing deeply until I am ready to smile helps. Good luck!!
Parker has hit adolescence and an entire new area of emotions.
Well, Steph, if anyone is interested in thoughts from an older generation mom, I never stressed too much about the bottle or the paci. Maybe I'm a bit of a pushover. But like I've always observed, I don't think I've ever seen a kid at school with a bottle or paci (but then, maybe I just didn't see 'em. :) However, speaking of patience, it was never one of my virtues--- I'm still working on it! By the way, I loved the boots in your last blog!
Don't fret about it. Something I did as a mom too. You feel like a failure if you can't get your child to give up something without a messy tug of war. I always sympathized with the kid, you know. I have things I don't want to give up either...sun drop....food.... I would limit use, you can't have it outside the house, you can't have it except at bedtime. We finally gave the pacifiers a funeral, put them in a shoe box, threw them in the trash, made a big deal out of it....but not before that blasted messy tug of war took place.....and now back to my tug of war with my sun drop.......
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