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How does one teach patience to a child?
Last night as I was lying in bed watching The Newsroom, my 8 year old came into the bedroom and told me she isn’t tired yet and that she is not ready to go to bed. I told her quickly that she should be in bed as it is a school night. She persisted, saying the same thing, “i am not tired and i am not ready to sleep yet”. Knowing that music can lull her to sleep, I offered her to listen to some music. She did. But after 5 minutes, she again declared that she still isn’t sleepy. Without any suggestion in mind, I threw her the question, “what is it that you want to do?” she said “I don’t know”. This time she said that with a whining tone. And instantly I have recognized a start of a crying fit. In my mind, panic sets. Oh dear… not now. Not when it’s 9pm…not when her Dad isn’t home yet. I planned to stay calm. I kept looking at the TV and at the same time tuning my mind out of the program I was watching. I was busy thinking of a way to distract her. But knowing my daughter’s temperament, I knew that there is no way I could console her. And that was exactly what happened.
And the worst part of it was that, instead of sharing her my calmer energy, I took in hers.
Care to guess what happened next? No one got hurt. But both our feelings were.
In a nutshell, I wasn’t patient last night just like my daughter. I am not proud of how I handled the situation. And in the aftermath, as I lay on my bed, I have realized that the best way to teach your child to be patient is to practice it yourself.
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