Skip to main content

Waiting

"Mum, can I have a drink please?"
"Just give me a minute to finish this; then I'll get you one."
"Mum, can I have a drink please?"
"Mum, can I have a drink please?"
 "What did I just say?  Yes, when I've finished doing what I'm doing."
"Mum, can I have a drink please?"
"Mum, can I have a drink please?"
"I heard you the first five times, OK?  Ten more seconds."
"Mum, can I have a drink please?"
"Mum, can I have a drink please?"
"Mum, I want a driiiiink!  Nooooowwwww!"

No, patient waiting is most definitely not a natural human attribute!  Most of us gradually learn to control our toddler tendencies to kick and scream if something hasn't arrived by the time we finish our sentence, but we still aren't often that good at waiting.  Especially if we don't know why there's a delay, can't see why there has to be a delay, and have three other places to be by five o'clock and really, this was the last thing we needed on a rainy Tuesday afternoon.  Don't they know how important our time is???

But, hard as waiting is for us, I think we all recognise that it's a valuable thing to learn.  Sure, I'm a fallible mother.  Sometimes I keep my kid waiting just because I can't be bothered to get off the sofa.  But on my better days...

I want him to learn that other people have needs and desires that are just as important as his own.  So I finish what I need to do before attending to what he wants.

I want him to learn not to be selfish and demanding.  So I don't jump to fulfil his every whim at the first time of asking.

I want him to learn patience and self-control.  So he gets to eat dinner when everyone's ready to eat, not just when he's ready.

And I want him to learn that sometimes, waiting makes a moment even more special.  So that pile of presents is staying tantalisingly under the tree until Christmas Day.

It will be said on that day,
    “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.
    This is the Lord; we have waited for him;
    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
Isaiah 25:9

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

National Forest Way: The End!

The National Forest Way finishes at Beacon Hill, Leicestershire, with beautiful wide-ranging views in all directions. I'd been hoping for a sunny day, and this one certainly fit the bill. The frosty earth lay under a glorious canopy of shining blue sky. I parked at Swithland Wood, close to where we finished the previous walk. Finding the waymarker on the first gate was bittersweet - this was the last time I would be following these familiar circles.   Swithland Wood had been acquired by the Rotary Club in 1931, and later passed on to Bradgate Park Trust. The lumpy terrain was due to slate quarrying. I skirted a couple of fenced-off pits. As I left the wood, I passed a lake which I assumed was another flooded quarry, but with an odd little tower next to the water. I followed a road up a steady hill towards Woodhouse Eaves. Many of the houses were surrounded by walls of the local slate. Woodhouse Eaves was a prosperous-looking village with some nice old buildings. Crossing the wide ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Theme: Body

I didn't plan this to be a theme week, but Toby's new refrain has become, "I want to do something else " (how does he know it's the school holidays?)  Something else turned into my digging out my body-themed activities and roll of cheap wallpaper.  So here we go! First thing to do is draw a body, and fortunately I had a handy template.  Lie down, Toby! Just ignore the face.  And lack of neck.  I know it's not a great likeness, but he really is that tall.  How on earth did that happen? He knew pretty much all the body labels already, so I can't really claim it as a learning opportunity.  Still, revision is good, right?  And everyone enjoys colouring on a huge sheet of paper. Another sheet of wallpaper became a blank canvas for hand and foot painting.  Fortunately it's been great weather, as outside is always the best place to do this.  Even with a strategically placed tub of water for washing off in. I've gone gree...
1 comment
Read more

Austin part 2

Well, I wrote about Bats, Bluebonnets and Breakfast Tacos in a previous post, but that only seemed to cover about half of what we actually did in Austin (were we really there only for a weekend?). And we had several more great photos that Graham has been bugging me to post on my blog, so prepare yourselves for an extravaganza of colour, light and image! Austin is known as a great place for live music, which presumably explains the psychadelic guitars left lying around the streets. Here's Graham with a couple of his dream instruments. We visited the Texas State Capitol, built on a grand scale from tons of pink granite and limestone. The state capit o l, you understand, is located in the state capit a l. Don't get confused. Americans definitely tend towards the domes-and-pillars school of architecture for their governmental buildings. I had a feeling this was true, so did a quick search for corroborating evidence and discovered this great site by a ph...
Post a Comment
Read more