Patience

I am beginning to understand why some people don't encourage healthy activities with their kids; it takes an incredible amount of patience in the beginning.  This year has been an incredible test on my patience.  As a parent at hockey and t-ball practice, you spend most of the time encouraging your child to stick with the group and keep going.  On bike rides, hikes, kayaking and other sports it takes an incredible amount of creativity and perseverance to keep Little Man from taking a break every 3 minutes (no joke: I have timed him).  There have been days that keeping him going has been so exhausting that a part of me never wants to do whatever activity we are doing again.  However.........

 I have come to realize that the time I put into encouraging, prodding, bribing and at times losing my patience eventually pays off.  Eventually they get it and it all starts to some together.  Eventually, it becomes an amazing enjoyable experience.  Eventually, they can make it to the top of the mountain and realize how incredible the top can be. 

As for me, as I watch the 10 year olds wait for their moms to catch up on the trail, I can take great satisfaction in the fact that soon he will be the one waiting for me:)