I was impatient with my five-year-old the other day. All day long, it seemed, he dawdled, whined and did everything in his power to annoy me. I finally reached a breaking point trying to get out the door. I barked at him to "hurry up and put on his coat." Not missing a beat, my precocious little kid barked back at me, "Mom! Don't you know kids have bad days too?"
No, I hadn't stopped to consider that my son was having a bad day. I rarely stop to consider that my kids have bad days, pet peeves and annoyances — just like me. Later that night, I put myself in my kids' shoes and realized I was making all sorts of mistakes even though I consider myself a pretty good mom. After dwelling on this for a while, I came up with these five things I'm sure kids wish parents understood.
1. Kids have bad days too. The statement that started it all. It doesn't take much to get me out of sorts: not enough sleep, not enough food, not enough respect. The same goes for my kids. I expect my family to offer me grace when I'm having a bad day, so I need to extend the same courtesy to my children. Maybe, with a little more love and a lot less impatience, the bad days will become fewer and fewer.
Read the rest here, at the Deseret News.
