Patience and kindness

"Mommy, I don't think you were nice to Lily. You hurt her feelings," Alex said one particularly stormy afternoon.
"Well, she..." I started and caught myself. Sigh. Why can't I just be perfect?
"You know, you are right. I always try to be kind, but sometimes it's hard and I get impatient. You know, it's actually quite challenging to be a mommy."
"Really?" Hmmm... apparently I make it look easy!
"Yeah. You want to try? When we go to pick up Lily, do what mommy does. Be patient and kind. If she does something wrong, don't get angry. Remember that she is still learning. Teach her how to do it right." 

As Lily's gymnastics class drew to a close, I reminded Alex, "Patient and kind, remember?"
He was ready to give it a try. Lily was in rare form and "patient and kind" turned out to be quite a challenge. But not all was lost.


This conversation gave us a new valuable and interesting tool. Let me point out that a three-year-old sister can drive any five-year-old boy to distraction, no matter how loving and focused he is or how hard he tries.  But now, instead of saying, 

"A L E X!!! Y O U   D O   N O T   H I T  Y O U R   L I T T L E  S I S T E R!!!!!!!"


I can calmly remind him, "Remember, patient and kind, like a mommy!" "Oh... I forgot..." which frequently follows is almost as good as an apology. And I think, this gave him a whole different level of understanding of my job... This is always good... have your little boss empathize with your task.