Patience is a Virtue. So Here's to a Virtuous 2013

Patience is apparently a virtue. But I wouldn't know. I don't have any. Not anymore.

I have never been a very patient person. I've always been quick to temper, and I get frustrated with things and people, especially stupid people, very quickly.

I always knew this was going to be a problem when it came to having kids, and in the final months of being pregnant with Punky it was something I was consciously working on.

The first 6-8 months of Punky's life I continued to work on this and I found it easy to have patience with her. How could I get frustrated or angry with this sweet, little, defenceless baby I'd created?

I got complacent about practising my patience however. And these last few months, as Punky has grown older and more independent, my patience has really been put to the test.

A test I think I'm failing. I'm finding this stage of Punky's development the most amazing, but also the most challenging.

It's such a privilege to be able to see her learning new things every day, to be able to almost see the cogs turning as she figures out how things work and how to do things, as she understands more and more of what we say to her.

But with these developments come the challenges. The fierce independent streak that no doubt comes directly from me. She wants to do everything by herself. She wants to walk and run wherever she pleases, not where I need or want her to go. She wants to touch and explore everything around her, even if its dangerous, a word she has no comprehension of. She does not want to be helped, she does not want to be shown, she wants to do it all herself, and when she can't? The tantrums and her own lack of patience become sorely evident.

She is becoming much more like me than I ever thought she would and its not a great thing. I know she's only 13 months old, but I see myself in the way she gets frustrated, loses patience so quickly. I know, well at least I hope, that as she gets older she will develop more patience, but I worry that this might not be the case for her like it is with other kids. And I worry that it's my fault.

I'm not usually one to make New Years resolutions. I've never seen the point and never been able to keep the few that I have beyond a few days in to the new year.

But this year, in 2013, my resolution is to work on my patience, to model it to my daughter. To keep my quick temper and frustrations in check, in the hope that Punky might learn good things from my example and not bad things.

I not only want to demonstrate more patience with her, but more patience with Dave and the things that I do around the house. She is watching me and soaking up everything she sees like a sponge and I want her to see and learn good things from me, not bad tempers, impatience or any of my other bad traits.

That's my resolution for the year. So here's to a hopefully virtuous 2013, one I can be proud of, and one in which some day, my daughter can be proud of me too.

Do you struggle to find your patience like me? Are you worried about the bad things your kids might be learning from you? Do you have any strategies I can use to help me in my quest for patience? I'd love to hear your tips!

And because its Tuesday I'm blogging. Because the awesome Jess knows that it's essential to blog on Tuesdays and I hope you have too! I'm also very excited to be a brand new member of Team IBOT in 2013 and can't wait to get around to all your awesome blogs and get commenting! Happy New Year and Happy IBOT!