Patience...

Phew! After a full morning of oatmeal throwing, running around outside, walking to the library for STORY TIME, counting cars on the TWO freight trains that stopped us on the way home, lunch (mashed potatoes and babies don't mix...), cleaning up after lunch, and one final tantrum before nap (the baby, not me), the house if finally quiet, and I am sitting down at my computer with a cup of coffe.

Nannying is exhausting!!! It requires so much energy, perseverance, care, thought, and above all, PATIENCE! I have always thought of myself as a pretty patient person. Sure, I do like to move quickly, and would rather not have to wait, but I am usually happy to do so, willing to sit and listen, even if there might be somewhere else I was hoping to be. But since starting this nanny job, I have realized that when it all comes down to it, I really have very little patience whatsoever.

With a 15-month-old baby, every little task is a time-consuming ordeal. For instance, washing hands in the sink, which takes me only a few seconds, becomes a lengthy playtime for Reid, who wants nothing to do with soap and scrubbing, and would rather sit on the counter and play with the water dribbling out from the faucet, running his fingers under the stream, shaking his hand and watching water droplets fly, then doing the same with the other hand, over and over and over again. And he's not even done once you turn off the water. No, he sees what you did, and goes for the faucet, wanting to turn it back on. It's a good day when he doesn't also get distracted by all the other things sitting on the counter by the sink! In the back of my mind, I am thinking about all the other fun and interesting things Reid and I could be doing if he would just hurry up and be done in the sink, but in his mind, he's already doing something fun and wonderful, and he's in no hurry to move on just yet!

Going down stairs is another patience-builder for me. He lives in a split-level house, and there are four steps leading down into his bedroom from the main level, as well as four steps to the side door that we use to go outside. This makes for a lot of stair-climbing. Now, Reid is just a little toddler who has only been walking for about two months, so stairs are kind of tricky. These few simple steps require Reid to stop at the top of the stairs, sit down on the floor, consider the task at hand, get on his hands and knees, turn around in a little half-circle in order to back down the stairs properly, and then the descent begins. He typically takes one step at a time, pausing to sit and take in the sights on each individual step, all the while looking ever so proud of himself for being able to navigate such a perilous obstacle. Meanwhile, I'm standing at the bottom of the stairs, desperately trying to resist the urge to just pick him up and put him down at the bottom. But, while that would satisfy me in getting the job done sooner and being able to move on, it does nothing for Reid, who is learning and developing motor skills on each step.

What have I learned so far? Life is made of moments. I tend to spend much of my energy hurrying to the next prominent moment, while Reid is teaching me to slow down and enjoy the moment we are in, with all the interest and learning that comes with it, no matter what we're doing. I sheepishly recall earlier this summer telling a friend that "Every experience we have in life, no matter how troublesome or mundane, is an opportunity for us to learn more about God, and to be shaped more closely to the image of Christ. Paul meant what he said in Romans 8:28: 'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.'" I guess hand-washing and stair-climbing are no exception.