Patience is...

waiting for a two-year-old to:

• put on her own shoes
• put on her own shorts
• put on her own shirt
• put on her own pajamas
• take off her own shoes
• take off her own shorts
• take off her own shirt
• take off her own pajamas
• eat a meal
• pick up her own toys
• put away her own toys
• climb into the car
• climb into her car seat
• buckle her car seat
• open containers
• close containers
• get her toothbrush
• get her toothpaste
• open her toothpaste
• brush her teeth
• rinse out her own toothbrush
• get a drink
• be ready to be potty trained
• follow instructions
• say please
• say thank-you
• get out one fork at a time to set the table
• walk into a store
• walk around while shopping in the store
• walk back out to the car

Basically, patience is letting my toddler do things herself because in the long run it will be beneficial for her to learn to do things for herself instead of having mommy or daddy do everything for her.  My list could go on and on and man oh man is it hard to wait sometimes.  So hard that sometimes I don't wait and I do things for her.  But she wants to do it herself and I want her to become independent.  So, I guess I'll keep on waiting....and I'll make sure to schedule extra time when getting ready to go somewhere!