Patience...

I have said it before, I am not a very patient person. It is something I really need to work on. My kids were with me this past weekend. The two youngest are like oil and water. I have at add that my youngest is three. Three is not an easy age, he wants to do everything himself. Brielle wants to play with animals, but they go in certain places and do certain things. Weston wants to play with Brielle and her animals, but he wants them to stomp around and destroy things. This causes a fight. Saturday it just so happened to be over 70 degrees. The downside, the wind blew... hard. When you have three kids and it's nice out, you stay outside, even if that means facing the risk of blowing away (that is possible, I blew away when I was three). There happens to be a large pile of rocks in our yard right now. They played on that for quite a while. We then went to our farm as their dad was out of town and we needed to feed and water a few animals. We hopped on our UTV and took a ride down to the river. We walked down to the river and went for a little stroll. The water is perfectly clear this time of year. Along out stroll, we stopped to look at rocks and skipped a few along the river. They let their imaginations run wild, they observed many different parts of nature. We found a few logs along our walk and had to try them out for sitting on, but only for a few seconds! We also managed to walk through some thorn patches. It took me a good five minutes to pull all the thorns off of my kid's pants. After our little river stroll and Ranger ride, we headed back to our farm. The kids were happy to play on the swings and slides, and in the tree house my dad and I built them a couple of years ago. The plan was to get lots of fresh air, and wear them out. We went into Fairfield that evening to eat sandwiches at the fire hall with our neighbors. Turns out my plan worked well, we are and visited for a little bit. It was very apparent my kids were tired, so was I. Sunday was a little slower, it was still nice, and windy. We didn't play outside quite as much. When my kids are gone my laundry is done, my house is clean and my cupboards are full. Within minutes of them coming home it is the exact opposite. After a little cleaning we took up an invitation to go see some lambs. Our other neighbors (this qualifies as about a two mile radius) raise sheep. Their boys show them for 4-H, and at the State Fair. They had tons of babies for us to run around with and pet. They are so cute! My kids had a blast there. We saw a set of triplets, some fuzzy white lambs, some spotted lambs, some gray lambs and one that looks like he has a saddle on his back. Weston, of course, spent his time chasing them around and scaring them. Brielle was a tad more patient and quiet, she even got to hold one for a minute. Karys, the one I need to observe and learn from the most, stood for some time scratching their heads and necks. As ornery as Weston can be, they invited us back. They even told the kids to watch, in a couple months, the boys would be putting halters on the sheep and walking them down the road. Maybe my kids can even try walking them a bit themselves. I need more days and events such as that and the stroll along the river. That is where I find my patience, in the quiet moments. The moments where there is no rush, when you have to sit and be still in order for an animal to approach you. When you can be outside, soaking up the sunshine and fresh air, when you just breathe. I need to remind myself of those moments when I lose my patience.