Patience

The question of the hour...when you are a mother, are you truly even capable of being patient?

Today I went to a friends house so she and I could have a play date and the kids of course could have one too. On our way out the door I texted her and asked if she needed anything. Her response..."No, just patience." My response..."Well then I'm screwed!" And the truth is, I am TOTALLY screwed.

Before I had my first child I thought maybe I would be capable of listening, understanding, accepting my children for their faults. Reality...I am capable of NONE of those things. Some people are surely built to be mothers and are ingrained with more understanding and more patience in general. Those mothers STILL aren't always patient. My pet peeve...when mothers pretend they are ALWAYS patient.

Kids are stupid...I'm pretty sure that's their job actually. Stupidity which turns into parental testing, which hopefully in a circular way turns into a life lesson when all is said and done (hopefully being the operative word).

Weekly (ok I am being generous...daily) I have a moment with my kids where I say to myself "yep they are gonna tell their therapist someday about this one." I guess I have decided that in it's own strange way the things they tell their therapist someday are opportunities for learning...for both them and I.

Patience is a virtue as my mother said, and although I frequently sing the patience song to my children (you know...have patience, have patience, don't be in such a hurry...when you get impatient you only start to worry...blah blah blah) it would do me some good to listen sometimes and heed my own advice. But since patience and stubbornness don't really go together, I'm gonna have to put it on the list for a future conversation with my own therapist.

Inappropriate to save for therapy for my kids instead of college? Hmm....