Lessons from children – All things come with time
There are a lot of lessons to be learned as a parent, but one of the greatest lessons I have learned from my stepson is that all things come with time. As parents we rush to help our children learn new things and new skills. We get frustrated when we don’t think they are potty-training fast enough, they won’t sit still long enough to hear a chapter from a book, they won’t capitalize their sentences or basic math seems like calculus to their developing brains. We worry that we aren’t doing a good enough job and that lacking these basic skills is going to ruin them forever. Phew. Take a breath!
These parenting challenges seem monumentally difficult at the time - as if you and your child will never get past them. How is your child going to succeed in life if they can’t write a sentence properly, after all? After over a decade of being a stepparent and a year as a homeschool parent, I assure you… all things come with time. There were times I thought my young step-son would never be able to sit still long enough to hear a chapter of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” And without jumping around like a monkey and interrupting about a million times… yeah right. Within a year, he would sit or play quietly and listen - interrupting more infrequently. Now, he asks occasional questions or makes predictions – processes I used to lead him through and he now does without prompting. And… he usually asks for more!
So, next time you think… “Is my child EVER going to get this?” Yes, they will. Will they get there as fast as your neighbor’s kid or their teammate or even their own sibling? Maybe, maybe not – maybe they’ll get there faster. But frankly – it doesn’t matter. They will get there and your stress and the inadvertent pressure you place on your child won’t make the process go any faster (trust me… I know!). So take a deep breath, guide them and try something different. It is so much fun to discover what makes your kid tick and exciting when they succeed… you just have to relax and keep chugging along.
If you ever doubt yourself or them… think back to something you struggled with as a child. You turned out all right, right? You grew up to be a wonderful adult. They will, too.
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