When my son was born I was very young -- too young. Sometimes I think about how much I didn't know back then, how easily stressed I was and how much more I could have enjoyed that time in our lives.
I was reminded of this today at lunch. I was at a convenience store and there was a young woman in her late teens or early twenties with two small girls (probably 4 and 5 years old). The girls were wearing short dresses and no coats, complaining about how cold they were. The young woman (I'm not sure if she was their mom or babysitter) kept telling them to hurry up so they could get back to the truck where it was warm. After finally deciding what they wanted and paying for their snacks, the two little girls ran out of the store toward the truck. The mom (or whatever), completely exasperated, started yelling at them to slow down.
HELLO! They were in the store and you wanted them to hurry. Now they're hurrying and you want them to slow down. It's below 40 degrees and you don't have coats on them, but you want them to walk slowly to the truck.
When I see things like this, I just pray I wasn't that clueless as a young mother. But, unfortunately, I probably was. Sometimes I think we shouldn't have kids until after we're forty or when we're completely over ourselves -- whichever comes first.
Question: Can the lack of common sense have a direct result in the amount of patience one possesses?
2 comments:
Have you not ever heard of the "good enought" mother? A gracious handling of oneself as mother for all moms@
Well, I had to do a little research, but I found an article on the Good-Enough Mother. Thanks, Lisa. Wish someone had clued me in on this when my kids were still young.
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