I Want it Now!!

I woke up today anticipating a semi- stressful day, which is typical for my life.  I’m a mother of 5 in about 6 weeks, so why wouldn’t my days and nights be just a tad stressful.

As I am ready to get up and start my day, I'm bombarded by 3 of my 4 children at about the same time.  One, my teenager, is shoving a paper in my face to authorize an out of district school transfer to another High School for next year.  I tell her I will read over it and research the school and let her know.  Her response is “No its due today, I have to have it signed now”  “Aye Aye Aye” is my only thought. 

Then my son butts in to tell me that his order form for a hockey game is also due this morning and he needs it NOW.  He is in chorus at school, and they will be singing “God Bless America” during intermission.  Of course these tickets aren’t free, so now I have to fork over $30 to pay for that, which normally isn’t that difficult, but when you are self-employed and people owe you money from 2 months ago, conserving every dime you can is highly important. 

Then thirdly, my 10yr old daughter strolls in, puts her arm around me and says, “So, mom, what about the money for the father daughter dance??”  That’s another $20 bucks or so, give or take.  And of course they want it NOW… Everything is NOW, even if it isn’t due til tomorrow or next week.  All the while this is going on, my 2 yr old has woken up in a crying fit for me to pick her up… guess what.. NOW.

As I take a minute to separate myself from all the madness, I think to myself, “Why is it always NOW, NOW, NOW’ with these kids?? Do they not realize that I need time to mentally process every issue that they present to me? I can’t do everything at once… they need to be patient. And the truth is No, they don’t realize it.  But don’t we all do act like that, not just our kids?  When we have something that we want or “need” we certainly don’t like anyone telling us to wait or be patient.  So why should our kids act any differently, right??  That’s where we must come in as parents and set an example for our children. 

The bible teaches us the importance of patience. When we ask God for something and he doesn’t give it to us right then and there, does that mean that we will never get it?  No, it means when the time is right He will provide and he always does.  However we must be patient and trust in him no matter how difficult it may seem.   Our kids need to be taught the same thing.   Although they may not understand the concept at such a young age, if we try to instill these virtues from when they are young, the likelihood they will live by them as adults is much greater.  Now that’s not to say that we will never experience those “NOW” moments, but at least they will be a bit more bearable knowing that we have instilled the virtue of patience into their little brains for when they become adults.

As I end this little story… I think it’s time for a cup of coffee and NOW!!