What you are not told before you have children is the level of patience that is required. But, having had two kids prior to my third in January 2017, you might ask if I should have had a better idea of the type of patience that was required. The answer to this is no, no, and an even bigger NO!
My last blog post dates back to March 2017, about a certain man called Donald Trump. So much has passed in the world since then, and certainly Donald Trump has made his mark on the world.
In this time, it feels that my life has stood still, whilst at the same time I have been on a journey of parenting discovery, unearthing my own parenting patience. It is often said that patience is a virtue; it is what gives us peace. But reaching this peaceful moment each day is something of a challenge when kids are involved.
I’m talking about from the moment they wake up, their inability to sleep past 6am – when you are in desperate need of sleep – and their activity throughout the day, to the point when you have to initiate the bedtime routine. This peaceful moment becomes difficult to achieve. It is this non-stop relentlessness of their energy that wears you down as a parent, from the moment they wake up till they enter their rooms again to sleep. Michael McIntyre illustrates this bedtime routine very well with his comedy routine below:
My past posts ‘Parenting without Unconditional Love’ and ‘Physically, Emotionally and Spiritually Drained Dad: How Can I Be a Dad?’ touch on this parenting patience and the ability to endure without complaining.
Being patient is difficult in normal day-to-day life, but in the case of your kids it becomes even more of a challenge, as their rational thought is based on a level of selfishness and annoyance, which can sometimes be taken as a deliberate attack on a parent, as no logic explains the act. Worst of all, as parents we are also selfish and think about ourselves and what makes our life easier, even when, unlike our children, we are meant to be rational, which is not easy!
I came across the following quote during a church sermon, which has allowed me to reflect more and try to reach this peaceful state:
A moment of patience in a moment of anger, saves you a hundred moments of regret [Unknown]
While striving to maintain this new-found level of peace, I will be active and blogging on a weekly basis, to help me reflect on both the challenging and peaceful moments of being a dad.
Happy New Year, and wishing you all the very best for 2019!
Sources
- Editors, “Michael McIntyre” Wikipedia.org [Accessed 30 December 2018]