Every morning Braden has been waking up and asking me if it is time to get up or if we have to sleep a "widdle widdle more". We are sharing a room, you see, while we are visiting my parents in Colorado. We could have separate rooms, but Braden prefers to be roomies. So roomies it is.
Anyway, this morning, like the other mornings, I told him that we must sleep a "widdle more". This buys me an extra five minutes at most, but five minutes are five minutes. So, he tried to close his eyes and lay in his bed but after five minutes he couldn't help it anymore - it was time to get up. So he came over to me and looked me straight in the eye. As in, our noses were almost touching.
"Mom, it's time to get up. Keri wants you to get her out of her crib."
Which is funny, because I was in the room the whole time and I never heard Keri voice such a request.
"Did you go to the bathroom yet, Braden? Do you need to go potty?"
"No, Mom. I don't need to go yet. Please be patient."
I think he was mocking me. Because he said it just like I would have.
Patience? That is a word I have things to say about. And what is patience, really? Well, to me patience is not screaming out loud when you are flying alone with your two children and you realize mid-flight that the portable DVD player is dead because it was powered "ON" the entire time you were charging it. Patience is also answering the same question eight times in a row without batting an eye or losing your cool. And you get bonus points if you smile the eighth time you answer it.
I've realized that in motherhood, patience is not an elective but a required course. A required course much like the history of civilization courses I had to take in college...awful awful awful but whether you like it or not, you still have to take it. Yes, being a parent is a continual series of tests of your patience.
And now that my 3 year old is repeating everything I say, with the exact intonation and facial expressions, it is more important than ever that I exhibit patience and model good behavior.
But if I am going to do that, I'm going to need just a "widdle more" sleep. And maybe some different roomies.
And I probably shouldn't board any more airplanes.
3 comments:
One of (the many) things I love about you is your patients. You're an awesome mom :) You inspire me to be better.
But you know what I don't have patients for? FRIENDS WHO LET THEIR HUSBANDS DRIVE THEM TO THE AIRPORT ONLY TO GET THERE TOO EARLY AND THEIR HUSBAND MISSES A QUIZ.... :) oh mer i'm so mad at you :) i can't believe you didn't call me. i would have gladly taken you silly. please never feel like you're inconveniencing me.
Patients... the lesson of parenthood. I think with ever stage there is going to be more things we will have to have patients with. I feel like these early years are only preparing us for the latter years of being parents. But it sounds like you are passing this stage good parenting.
Meredith you seriously seem like one of the most patient women I know. I do have experience with trying to convince a young child to get a "widdle" more sleep. I don't know if you're back and in town, but hopefully I'll get to see you on Friday night.
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