Patience is a virtue, or so they say. What I do know is that it doesn’t come naturally for most of us to wait patiently–especially for children. Any parent who’s had to wait on line in the grocery store or at the post office knows that! Five minutes can seem like an eternity for a young child, and waiting months for a vacation or holiday can be torturous. As parents, we are challenged with the task of helping our children learn how to wait and help them develop at least some semblance of patience.
Very young children will not be thrilled about having to wait regardless. For the preschool set, a parent’s job is often to provide distraction while waiting in line or for something else to happen. I remember when my own children were toddlers and preschoolers, I had a few games and songs up my sleeve that we used while we were waiting. Part of this technique was distraction, but part of the activity was also geared toward helping my children learn that they could self-sooth and find ways to entertain themselves even when faced with a relatively long wait.
Some parents have had good luck with calendars and other ways of marking time for school-age children. Giving them activities that they can do to mark off days or creating a list of things that will happen prior to an anticipated event that they can check off and follow are some of the ways parents find to help children learn how to manage and survive anticipation.
For my eldest daughter, I remember giving her a watch when she was about five and she used to enjoy keeping track of the time on the watch while she was waiting for something to happen. Having something to do while waiting seems to be a key element in helping children learn to manage the impatient feelings.
Words of encouragement and rewarding patient behavior can also help. Acknowledging out loud for our children that we know that waiting is tough and praising them when they exhibit patience, will let them know that we are aware and supportive of the challenges of learning how to wait for anticipated people, places, and things.
See Also: To Bribe, or Not to Bribe and Focusing on Problems or Solutions