For parents, patience is more than a virtue; it’s an absolute necessity. But not every parent has enough patience, and almost every parent runs out of it at some point. Your attitudes about yourself and your family have a tremendous effect on how you deal with everyday experiences. Your attitudes can become self-fulfilling prophecies. If you believe that you have no patience and are inadequate as a parent, you are more likely to continue patterns that increase your frustration and decrease your effectiveness. Your self-confidence will suffer, undermining your ability to find successful solutions to problems.
Parenting is undoubtfully hard, and those frantic mornings trying to get everyone ready and at the door just in time, or squabbles between your kids after a long day are inevitable. Being a parent requires various skills that one needs to develop an understanding about and thereby practice them. Among these, the most significant parenting skill possibly would be patience. This skill can also be the most difficult one to practice. However, in order to parent your kid in the most proper way, you need to be patient in handling your child`s attitude problems like temper tantrums among many others.
Set time out for self-care
Another important piece to maintaining patience is making sure you’re taking care of yourself as much as you are taking care of everybody else. Take some time out of your daily routine to enjoy activities outside the home, such as a night out with friends or taking time to put your feet up and relax.
Positive Mantras
Research shows that thought comes before action. So, when you’re losing your patience, you need to try to retrain your brain to put a positive thought in your head, so you’ll react positively. This is where mantras come in. They stop the automated parenting response of lashing out and add more ability to think. Mantras are short, simple phrases, that are written as if they were already true, and add more positive thinking for success in parenting. Mantras can also help to stabilize your brain and send it on a more positive path.
Identify and learn to manage your triggers as a parent
Try to identify when you are most likely to lose your patience. You can make a list and answer the basic trigger identifying questions. These can include with whom you lose your patience, where, which part of the day etc. Many people tend to lose their patience early in the morning, or when hungry or tired. Once you get a clear understanding of your triggers, you then move on to dealing with those weak points. You can easily manage your triggers by stepping away for a while and taking some time to catch your breath or clear your mind and then approaching the situation with a clear mindset.