I recently read a quote that made me both giggle and nod my head in agreement: “Patience is what parents have when there are witnesses.”
When I’m in public – whether at a playgroup, at the store, with friends at the beach or the library – I have infinite patience.
“Now, baby, put those books back please,” I say in a calm, yet chipper voice.
“Darling, please stop throwing your peas at your sisters,” I reprimand gently in the restaurant, one eye on the table next to us where the older couple is scowling.
“No, no,” I softly rebuke, “we don’t need seven boxes of fruit loops. After all, they have,” I glance at the woman staring at my son piling boxes into the car, “high fructose corn syrup.”
At home, when we’re all alone, it’s a different story.
“If you don’t clean up your room,” I say sternly, “I’m throwing all your toys away.”
“Stop throwing your peas or I’ll ship you off to boarding school,” I threaten.
“If you don’t stop jumping on your sister, I’m going to lock you in your room for three years,” I snap.
“If you’re bored, you can go to bed. I’m not your entertainment director. Go play.”
Sometimes I think I’d be a better mom if I had a nanny cam on me at all times. At least, I’d be a more patient mom.
How about you? Do you find you have more patience in public than at home?
