Patience is a virtue. This is a very famous quotation which one often hears. But is there really value to patience? Waiting and patience go together. Waiting will always be a part of one’s’ life; therefore, it is necessary for one to learn the value of patience. Waiting can be as simple as waiting for the traffic light to turn green or lining up in the grocery or simply waiting for your plane to take-off. Children enthusiastically wait for their birthdays and Christmas. They count the days until they can open their gifts on these special occasions. For students, waiting may mean having sleepless nights before they find out if they passed an entrance exam for a university. For parents, what better example of patience than a mother waiting for nine months before her child is born. Waiting can sometimes be a stressor and be very challenging such as having to wait for one’s biopsy report. Because waiting is an everyday occurrence in people’s lives, patience should then be part of the human system.
Dictionary.com defines patience as “putting up with provocation, annoyance, misfortune, delay, hardship, or pain, with fortitude and calm and without complaint, loss of temper, irritation or the like. It is an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay”. Simply reading the definition of patience makes one think whether it is really possible to be patient amidst the situations described.
It is necessary for children to learn to be patient because throughout their entire lives, there will always be situations which will require them to wait and be patient. If they know how to be patient, they can handle some of the most difficult challenges easily. Patience teaches a child the value of delayed gratification which is essential for them to mature. Furthermore if children are patient, they can achieve inner calmness and emotional strength of character. With patience, the ability of children to analyze and resolve their problems can develop. They can be less impulsive. When children are taught to be patient, their emotional maturity is enhanced because they will learn how to be resilient and be trained on self-containment and the ability of soothing oneself.
Having known the importance of patience, how then can parents teach patience to their children? The best way to teach patience to the children is through example. Patience is an important parenting skill. Parents must learn to control one’s emotions when impatience is knocking at one’s door. It is very easy for parents to lose their patience in front of their children, which may sometimes lead to verbal or physical abuse.
One way to imbibe patience to children is by teaching them about time in a way that they understand. For young kids, the essence of time can be taught to them in ways like, “we will go to church after lunch”. Another way to teach patience to children is through distraction. If one is in a grocery line and one’s child is becoming impatient, one can distract the child’s attention by focusing on something interesting like maybe a nice toothbrush or toy near the counter. Playing games that teach patience may help develop a child’s patience such as playing chess or completing a puzzle.
As the summer break is fast approaching, chances are a parent’s patience will once again be tested since the kids will be at home without school work to make them busy. But parents remember this, the next time one feels the urge to shout and get mad at one’s children, just think about this, a little patience can go a long way for you and your children.
Works Cited
Bratcher, Sharon L. "The definition of patience." March 2009. reformedperspective.ca. Web. 23 April 2013 <http://reformedperspective.ca/index.php/resources/202-the-definition-of-patience?catid=63%3Asoup-and-buns>.
Freedson, Bette. "Teaching kids patience." 2013. education.com. Web. 23 April 2013 <http://www.education.com/reference/article/teaching-kids-patience/>.
India Parenting Pvt. Ltd. . "Teaching children how to be patient." 2013. indiaparenting.com. Web. 23 April 2013 <http://www.indiaparenting.com/raising-children/253_3708/teaching-children-how-to-be-patient.html>.
Sander, Nancy. "An important parenting skill is patience." 2013. ezinearticles.com. Web. 23 April 2013 <http://ezinearticles.com/?An-Important-Parenting-Skill-is-Patience&id=4145652>.
