Patience....

As a kid.... and as teen....and heck, even now as a grown-up woman, I'm told frequently that I need to have more patience. I'm a quick-fix, results-now kinda girl. When I'm fed up with my hair, I want a haircut within the next 24 hours, no questions asked. I don't like waiting for my nails to dry, which is why I ALWAYS smudge one. But I'm learning. I'm learning that patience is pretty important. Ya know? "Love is patient"? And there is a certain little 2 year old who reminds me that "love is patient" every.day.of.my.life. And not in a bad way, but in the "it might take 15 years to climb up some stairs, but it's ok baby, I've got the time to watch you conquer those things" kind of way.

The past couple of weeks I have girded myself with Job-like patience, preparing myself for the worst when it came to potty training. I expected that my house would turn into a litter box, that I would be changing clothes every 2 minutes and then when all was said and done, my child would be going to college still wearing diapers. However, I'm happy to report that all of my prepping and pre-potty-training training paid off, because brother's got this thang down! Only a couple of accidents the whole week and my house didn't take much of a hit at all, which Mr. Clean has been most pleased with. 

 So with all of that extra patience left over from Potty Training, I was able to parlay that into other areas of my life. Like when I had The Meltdown of 2012 last week. I realized that it's now Fall, I have a million things I wanted Kidd-O to experience and then I was slapped with the reality that, not only do we not have the money to do any of these things, but I slap don't have the time to do any of it either. 

 You see, as a mom, we want to provide our kids with everything we had (or didn't have) as a kids. And when you can't do something, it's heartbreaking. It is for me anyway. I am so in tune to the fact that my little boy is only a little boy once and I want to make the most of it. I want him to look back on his childhood the way that I look back on mine: with fondness and gratitude. And yes, I am aware that he is only 2 and he may not remember all my efforts (and Lord help him if he has my husband memory), but by golly, I know I will! So, my heart broke just a little when I realized that we wouldn't be able to take him to the State Fair this year. I wanted it and I wanted it BAD! And it was only after a few tears were shed that I was smacked with a dose of reality. I realized A) It's really not the end of the world if I can't do everything. B) There is always next year and C) I will, Lord willing, have a couple more kids that I get to create memories for too. It was with those little nuggets of reality and lessons in patience that I was able to take a huge sigh of relief. And maybe I can't afford a trip to the fair, but this momma is gonna make the most of it even if it's to stand in line to get a hug from some person dressed as broccoli, 

 stopping to talk to homeless lady's bird,

  or stopping to get a free ice cream cone

 or just playing "make believe" around the house.

It's all good here. 

Have a great week!!!!