One of the most important lessons I’ve learned as a parent is to have patience. It’s been a hard lesson, because it’s not a natural trait for me. I think I’m a little bit impatient with some things. My wife thinks I’m way better at impatience than I give myself credit for.
But when my wife gave birth to my daughter back in 2016, my impatience had to wait, because a baby is going to do what a baby needs to do at its own pace.
My daughter dictated the tempo of our lives: eating, sleeping and crying whenever she needed to. It made months feel like one long day.
My daughter went through a phase where she wouldn’t sleep during the day unless she was in motion. She needed to be in her stroller with either my wife or me pushing her or in her car seat while one of us drove. She would wake up and shriek if we stopped moving. It felt like the movie “Speed,” where the bus would explode if it went below 50 miles per hour.
It was frustrating. It was tiring. I wanted to scream sometimes, and I know it had to have been a thousand times worse for my wife.
I learned that, sometimes, you just have to roll with what’s going on. It will pass. It became easier as the months, then years, went by, mostly because my daughter is such a sweetheart.
The rewards started becoming more apparent, too. She would reward us with a coo or a smile every now and then. And as she grew older, there would be hugs, kisses or an “I love you.” Hell yeah. It feels good.
I know I still need to work on my patience. My daughter’s only 8 years old, and more experienced parents tell me the next several years will push my patience to the limit.
We’ll see.
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Enrique Saenz has been a parent for 8 years, but he’s still trying to figure it out. You can reach him at enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org.
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