Patience Is A Virtue

Just like most of you out there, I get my hair done every couple of months. I started seeing my current hair dresser when Ava was five months old and while Ava's been pretty freaking amazing every single time we've gone, each and every time I'm in there I wonder when I'll finally need to hire a babysitter for those salon trips.

But last time I was there it got me thinking...

I think we baby our kids far too much. By hiring babysitters and bringing iPads with us everywhere we go and bringing an entire kids backpack full of snacks and "things" with us (as I always do) doesn't it seem like we're teaching our kids the opposite of patience? 

Okay I get it, kids need activities and distractions and things to do but at the same time, kids also need to learn that there are times and places when they'll just need to sit there. When we're out to dinner, I want my kids to learn to sit there politely for an hour (and socialize... but that's a whole different topic). I don't want to be stuck at home every day because I've not taught my kids the power of patience. I don't want my kids to think that after twenty minutes of sitting politely, that they can then run around just because they're kids. Because there's a time and a place for kids to be kids and there's a time and a place that just isn't right for that.

We live in a world where we constantly need to be doing something at all times and guess what, that's exactly what we seem to be teaching our kids. Instant gratification is amazing, don't get me wrong, but what happens when something disrupts that? We get angry and mad and we lose our cool, adults included.

So I don't plan on hiring a babysitter for my hair appointments any time soon. It may not be a walk in the park and it may not be so relaxing for me, but so long as Ava isn't disrupting the experience of others, I'm going to keep her right there with me when I go to get my hair done. She will sit right there on my lap and learn patience. Call me crazy but I believe that every single experience I bring into her life will help her to grow into a polite, social, patient and behaved young lady.

Baby steps...it's all a learning process for me too but I'm doing my best to teach her where I can. You can never start too early!

And if you want to see what it's like to have a toddler on your lap for an entire hair appointment, here ya go!