I don’t think that I was born a naturally patient person. Somehow, in my mind, my ability to multi-task and consistent energy level are not compatible with the fine virtue of patience. Instead, patience has been something I have definitely had to develop because of my role as a mom, and despite my flexible and easy-going manner, I haven’t mastered it yet!
I remember that one of the first major lessons I had to learn as a new parent was that everything took ten times longer than I thought it should! Whereas B.C. (before children), I was able to move with the fluid competence of a short-order cook, parenthood brought the need for me to learn that no matter how much planning, how efficient I was, or how I early I started, getting kids, gear and allowing for moods, temperament and illness–all made things take much longer than I could have ever anticipated. That was my first lesson in patience (technically, my first lesson in patience was waiting for my eldest daughter to get herself born nearly three weeks after I’d been told she was “due”–as someone who took deadlines and due dates very seriously, I assumed that she had got the memo as well–but, I prefer to count my lessons starting with AFTER she was born.)
Parenthood and family life had an unending supply of lessons and opportunities for me to practice patience–waiting for kids to finish eating, get dressed for school or events, complete homework projects, learn not to run into the street, remember to call to tell me they’d arrived via bicycle at a friends house, make it home by curfew–I warned you it was endless. Each time, I’m called upon to remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day, children aren’t raised in a week, and sometimes, things just have to be covered over and over again–My kids would tell you I’m infamous for saying, “Let’s review…”
I’ve been told by some of my fabulous older mentors that it never ends–parenthood and patience practice forever go hand in hand!