Patience Day 3

I'm beginning to think that this week's lesson on patience has been more helpful for me, than for the kids! I find myself struggling to come up with fun activities, crafts, and different ways to teach the kids about patience and why it's important. It's easy to say "that takes a lot of patience" or "you have to be patient, and I'll help you in a second." But it's a lot harder to show what being patient means (at least for me at times). I'm realizing that the kids tend to be a lot more patient, when it comes to completing a project or craft or finishing a meal or playing a game. I find myself rushing through the day, trying to get this and that done before a certain time or trying to clean the entire house in an hour while the baby sleeps (which is impossible these days)! All these things that I try and fit into a day just makes me become impatient with the kids, at times, and that is something I am trying to work on.
My goal for this week, is to show the kids what being patient means. I hope to slow things down a bit and plan ahead better when we have to be places at a certain time. I find myself saying "come on, hurry up, we're going to be late" way to much! I think it's only fair to have patience with them, just the same as we expect them to be patient with us.
Jenna and I were playing a game of checkers this morning, while Kaitlyn was napping and Carly was playing with her dolls. It was fun playing with her- especially now that she is getting better and I don't have to let her win on occasion anymore... but she was just taking forever to make her move! I had to have patience on her every move and it was driving me crazy. I did talk about how I had to have patience, every time I had to wait for my turn. I didn't, however, talk about the fact that I was super impatient on the inside! I was thinking about all the things that needed to get done and how I could be getting them done if the game ended sooner.
I realized that I become impatient when I'm feeling stressed or feeling like I'm not using my time wisely. Then, I quickly realized that playing a game of checkers (no matter how long the game takes) with my daughter is using my time wisely. The dishes, laundry, and packing for a week long trip can wait. I'm amazed at how just being patient or having patience in life can make you a better person and parent.

Ok... now it's time to get everything done that didn't get done earlier because of that long ass checkers game (=