Becoming a more patient parent isn’t necessarily easy, but the benefits outweigh any discomfort we may encounter. Here are three simple ideas that might help.

Being a parent is one of the greatest and most important jobs in the world. But those cute little munchkins we brought into the world seem to be the ones who can cause the most impatience in our lives.

Children move to a different rhythm than adults, and they aren’t capable yet of fully comprehending why we need to get the lead out. 

Imagine they are a guest

Our own children aren’t the only ones who can drive us nuts, but if we are honest, we treat the neighbor kid who is making us late for work differently than we do our own child.

The next time you start to lose your patience and say something to your child that you will later regret, ask yourself how you would handle the situation if they were a guest in your home.

A lot of times, just asking yourself this simple question can help you snap out of your annoyance and gain a better perspective of the situation.

Give yourself a time out

When you feel your temper rising in response to something your child is doing, it’s a good time to give yourself a time-out. Tell your child that you are starting to feel upset and impatient and you are going to go in your bedroom to take a take-out.

Explain that you will be back in a few minutes, and that they should let you have that time alone. Don’t blame them or tell them that they have made you so mad that you have to take a time-out, since it’s not really their fault at all.

Your child will think it’s funny that mommy or daddy are getting a time-out, and you will be modeling positive behavior that they will learn to emulate when they become impatient.

Ask yourself if you’d rather be right or happy

We like to have things our own way. That’s just human nature. But when you find yourself arguing over something that really isn’t that important with your child, ask yourself why you are making such a big deal out of it.

In fact, ask yourself if you’d rather be right or would you rather be happy. The first couple of times you ask yourself this question, you may find it tough to answer “be happy.”

But the more you ask it, the easier it becomes to let go of “being right” to avoid becoming frustrated and angry.

See also:

Managing big stress
Living in the now
Is mindfulness a bad idea?