With today's hustle and bustle lifestyle, and with technology making things even more convenient for us, patience is something that's can be difficult to teach to kids.
Here are some helpful tips to help parents teach their kids how to be more patient.
1. Teach through your actions
Being patient goes beyond being able to wait. Patience means that a person should be able to wait calmly and without getting angry or annoyed.
That's why a good way of teaching your child patience would be to show your kids that you can be patient as well. You can also encourage patience in your kids by engaging them in activities to help them pass the time.
2. Reflective listening is important
Reflective listening is a means of communication wherein you listen to your child's feelings and acknowledge that they feel annoyed or frustrated, and help them verbalize those feelings.
Reflective listening is important as it is a means for your child to share how they feel and a way for them to let out any frustrations that they might have if they feel impatient.
3. Use timers
Telling your child "I'll be there in a minute" usually doesn't work, since it's difficult for children to visualize how long a minute exactly is.
To help your child understand how long a minute actually is, you can use a clock, the timer on your cellphone, or even an egg timer in order to help them visualize the span of time.
4. Teach them to cope with their impatience
Sometimes, kids just really need to sit down and wait, such as if you're waiting for the doctor, or if you're waiting for your flight at the airport. In those situations, you can teach your kids various coping skills that would help them deal with boredom or their frustration if they feel impatient.
You can teach them to play various games by themselves, or take things like a coloring book or small toys that would help your child fight off boredom while they're waiting.
5. Choose a lifestyle that's geared towards patience
These days, technology has made everything so fast and convenient. And this can 'spoil' your kids in such a way that they get used to things happening very quickly, and giving them instant gratification.
In order to prevent this from happening to your kids, try having a more patient lifestyle. Instead of letting your kids play with smartphones, you can instead choose to play games that require your children to be more patient.
Activities such as planting are also great since your kids will have to learn to be patient and to wait in order to reap the rewards for their efforts.
Source: scarymommy.com
READ: To the moms who are waiting: A mom’s touching letter about the virtue of patience
