Is a patient someone who is patient or someone who suffers? Being patient often feels like suffering, so perhaps it’s a bit of both.

Children are uniquely positioned to instruct parents in the ways of patience. Parents must slow down, relax, refocus, refocusing expectations to those that will best benefit the child.

Teaching a child a game is a good example. The child has to listen patiently while the parent patiently explains how it’s going to go down. The child won’t like the idea of not being able to enter immediately into the game; the parent knows, however, that learning the rules makes for a better experience in the long run. After all, you have to know the rules before you can break them.