If there’s one thing that I’ve been praying for myself as a parent this year, it’s that God will help me to be patient and kind with my kids. The days can be long and frustrating sometimes, but I really want to enjoy this time that I get to spend with my young children, and it starts with me being patient and kind. I’ve noticed that as I’ve prayed and done that, my kids have been more patient and kind too.
There have been many times, MANY times some days, that I’ve told our kids to be patient. We’re trying to teach them that they can wait nicely for what they want. Instead of demanding, they can wait without grumbling, whining, or losing their minds patience. And instead of rushing Eli when he’s about to put his pants on backwards for the third time or telling Mercy I can’t hold her because I want to finish washing dishes in the next 10 minutes, I can be patient. I can pause and wait nicely while they figure things out on their own or while they need just a few more minutes of being held.
I also want my kids to be kind. Eli went through a biting stage (BTW: I’m pretty sure there’s nothing that will humble you more as a parent of a preschooler than your child biting another child) and I just kept thinking, “Please, please be kind.” I want my kids to be smart and successful, but mostly I want them to be kind. We try to instill in our children that it’s more important to have fun with our friends than to play with the toys we want. It’s more important to make people feel good than it is to get what we want. It’s more important to be KIND than to get what we deserve (or think we deserve). People matter.
There’s a lot of violent and sad things happening in our country. I don’t presume to know all the issues and what would solve everything, but maybe we could just start with teaching our kids to be kinder and more patient. I want my children to have good self esteem, but I also want them to esteem the lives of others.
Maybe we could all be a little kinder and more patient, and maybe our kids can learn from our example.
Very well said.