Practice Makes Patience

It finally happened.  After 3 years of school I was able to sit at the kitchen table and calmly go over my daughter's homework with her.  And not just any homework; math homework.  At least I was able to stay calm.  My daughter was not so appreciative at my attempts to help her.  She has shunned numbers since her early days in preschool.  I think she's perfectly capable of doing math, we just haven't figured out her learning style.  I've been working on a few ideas to try and help her and decided to implement them tonight.  Unfortunately, my daughter was not overly receptive and after a break down on her part and a little time to calm down she did it and I think maybe understood the concepts a little better.

What was really exciting for me was that my husband was there to watch the miracle take place.  He watched me stay calm as my poor daughter struggled to understand.  Normally, when my daughter is having difficulties I get very frustrated and get angry when she yells at me out of her frustration.  Tonight I was able to just listen.  There was no boiling blood, no ringing ears and no raised voices.  I was able to comfort her in her confusion and it was wonderful.  By staying calm I was able to figure out what was wrong and help her feel better about herself.  That never would have been possible if I was still working.  It's seems odd but  having to deal with my children all day, every day has taught me to calm down.  It's taken a whole year, but I've finally figured out that it's not personal and there is no point in getting angry.  It just makes everything more difficult

The best part, was when it was all over she looked at me and said, "You're the best Mommy in the whole world."  I wish that were true.