For some reason, when I'm doing my run, the first 7 minutes are the hardest. I'm not exhausted. I'm not sore. I just don't want to do it. Maybe my body hasn't started releasing endorphins yet?
As I chug along, I tell myself, "No. Persevere. You can do this. This is your running time. You love your run. You got up early for this. It's good for you. It gives you energy and makes you crazy productive. It's why you can still eat chips every night. Keep going."
And I do. I get to the 3rd song on my playlist and I'm in my groove. At the end, I am ALWAYS glad I kept going.
Our kids desperately need to learn perseverance
I recently started making my two oldest (9 & 8) help re-make their own beds after washing bedding. It has been an excellent lesson in perseverance.
First of all, putting the fitted sheet on the top bunk will fill anyone with rage (unless you know my tips--see below).
Second, both of these kids succeed pretty easily in whatever they do (yay!), but that means they often quit immediately when things are hard. Especially if it's a boring chore.
There was lots of flopping around and their foam mattresses rejecting the sheets and LOTS of kid complaining.
But every week, we would get it done. It grew me as a mom. I needed to TRAIN them to do this job. Watching, learning, doing. I needed to let them watch me accomplish it, us work together on it, and them try it alone at least once. They needed to hear me cheer them on while they wrestled with the sheet.
They needed to experience the failure. It's really SO GOOD for us to be able to process it. And grow from it. And OVERCOME it. And not let the failure be the end of us.
Last Saturday, my oldest did 2 corners without any help! The smile of victory on her face was priceless! And it was a victorious mothering moment. We need all of those we can get.
Sure, they would have totally loved for me to keep doing this for them, but I want them to know that they can overcome hard things. Because we're presented with challenges everyday, and I want them to run at them head-on--because they've had lots of practice--instead of just giving up.
Jen's Bunkbed Making Tips:
- find the (correct) corner of the sheet
- kneel on the mattress so you have the most leverage
- put your hand in the pocket like a bearclaw (they like it if you growl some at this point)
- grab the mattress with that hand like you mean it and pull up, wrapping the sheet around the mattress with your other hand, and let it fall back down
- repeat. (make sure you give yourself plenty of sheet for the last 2 corners)
For more on issues like this, check out our Parenting Hacks board.
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