Parenting Tip #3 - Having Patience

I was pregnant with my fourth child and lying on the couch watching my 3 boys wrestle, play and of course, fight. I didn't know at the time I was anemic. I had little energy, was tired all the time and a little depressed. I thought to myself, "how am I going to get through this?" I said a fervent, private prayer asking for patience.

I eventually did get more patience, but it wasn't the way I expected. I continued daily praying for patience until one day I learned that the way to have patience with my children was to enjoy my children. I began watching my children and noticing things about them. How they interacted with each other, how they problem solved, how they thought and came up with solutions. I learned about what stage they might be in (http://www.parents-in-a-pickle.com) and how that caused them to act certain ways. As I watched and learned, I became more patient with them. I enjoyed watching them and loved to see how their brains worked things out.

I learned that to have patience with my children, I needed to learn more about them, why they acted the way they did. I needed to enjoy them as they were at the moment. I needed to enjoy the journey, to savor them as they were at this moment in time. My love for them increased and amazingly, I had more patience!