Patience: Step 2

Step 2 in achieving patience according to Robert C Oaks is to "Evaluate ourselves to determine where we stand on the patience continuum. How much more patience do we need to become more Christlike? This self-assessment is difficult. We might ask our spouse or another family member to help us."

I talked to Paul and my mom and they were no help. They both think that I have a lot of patience. However, I know better. Here are the times that Paul and I came up with that cause me to lose my temper and then I tried to come up with ways to fix those problems.

• When the kids disobey.
• This one is really hard for me. I don't understand why they won't just obey the first time. Sometimes I have to ask and ask and put them in timeout and ask some more. So, we need a better discipline system I guess. I have ordered a book called "The Children I Want With the Kids I Have". Don't misinterpret me by the title. I absolutely adore my kids. They are the loves of my life but I would really like for them to obey. Hopefully I'll learn something from there. Also, I think I need to be more consistent and maybe a bit more creativity will help as well. 
• When I am trying to do something and the kids want my attention.
• I need to make sure that the kids and I spend quality time together BEFORE homework or chores. When I am trying to do something, I am very good at ignoring the kiddos. I mean, I know exactly where they are and what they are doing but I block out the sounds. This doesn't always lead to great endings. I'm hoping that if I give them the attention first or wait for them to nap or bed time to do it then we'll end some of the drama. Maybe when working on chores I can get them more involved. I also think this may help out a bit more with the obedience issue mentioned previously.
• When Paul doesn't help me when I think he should be helping me.
• This one frustrates both myself and Paul. I think that we need better communication then. I need to tell him exactly what I need from him instead of expecting him to guess. Normally, this is when we're getting ready to go to church or something and are in a hurry.

 Now you know a bunch of my faults but I'm hoping that making this public I'll be more likely to follow through with it and to improve on my patience. Make sure you hold me accountable!