Construction Zone - Proceed with Patience

I just drove by the nearby middle school, and read this week’s slogan that was on their message board - "The road to success is always under construction." Yes, we are always under construction. We never run out of things to learn or new choices to make which can take us down an unexpected path. And if this is true for us, it is certainly true for children. We are all a "work in progress,"adults and children alike.

But, how easy this is to forget. We get restless and edgy, and though we may not always say it, we often think to ourselves, "how many times do I have to remind him about this before he finally gets it?" Or we are upset with ourselves when we seem to forget our own lessons, and do the same thing over again, even though it didn't work the last time either! Learning is rarely immediate. It takes many tries and much practice before we finally get it.

With this in mind, children deserve our patience. They don't always want or need us to step in and help them when they are learning something new. Our well-intentioned assistance can backfire and give the message that we don't trust them to be learn how to complete this on their own. Instead, we can say, "I know you can figure this out. I'm here to help you if you need me."

We all need to cultivate patience. Consider, what is really most important right now? We want the best for children, and sometimes the best we can do is to slow down, step back, watch and wait.