I’m waiting for you
To put on your clothes
You can’t decide between
Dogs on your shirt or stripes
The clock ticks
I’m waiting for you
To brush your teeth
So I can have my turn
You spit not in the sink
The clock ticks
I’m waiting for you
To eat your breakfast
While I’m packing a lunch
I know you won’t eat either
The clock ticks
I am waiting for you
To tie you shoe
The bunny ears are too big
But you say you can do it
The clock ticks – we’re late for school
I’m waiting for you
To come out of school
The clock ticks – the patient anticipation
Feels like the nine months
I waited
To show you the depth of my love
This poem was written for Patrick’s Pic and a Word Challenge #206 – Depth and #207 – Waiting. I am finally caught up!
I have had a lot of time to contemplate waiting – having kids gives me plenty of opportunity. I usually do try to be patient, to show them that they are “worth waiting for”.
But sometimes I am stressed because we are late or because I have to do something else that seems more urgent – and in those times, I am not patient. Sometimes I am even angry and spewing all sorts of non sensical threats and pronouncements.
And after I’ve calmed down (and we’ve arrived where we need to be or done what we need to get done), I usually end up apologizing and explaining why I was so upset. I also talk about what I could have done better and what they could have done better and encourage them to give me and their siblings feedback as well.
It’s an imperfect process and one that is often repeated in our house. Getting all of us out of the house and somewhere on time is feat we always acknowledge!
Still, if getting there on time didn’t really matter, I do try to wait for them – to practice their self-care skills (brushing, buttoning, tying, etc.), to finish the story they are telling me, to finish looking at the caterpillar crossing the sidewalk, to finish enjoying their childhood.
©️ iido 2019
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absolutely beautiful … two great poems well worth waiting for Irma 🙂
I recently did a photo prompt on wall art and I’d love you to link this post to that, please? That is a most impressive mural!
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Of course! I was actually going to write a post about that mural. I went on a food tour and the guide told us a fascinating story of how it came to be.
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ooh please do, looking forward to it 🙂
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When the kids are all grown up we will surely miss the days when we have to rush them in finishing their breakfast so we wont be late for school….i know…i am feeling it now..my gilrs are now in boarding school and my oh my i miss the days when i have to make their beds, prepare their food and drive them to school…gone are those days ….i only have weekends and holdiays with them..
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What a lovely one, Irma! Kids are fun, kids can be a pain but we just cannot do without them.
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Quite true, Punam!! Also – I had lost your site on the reader earlier this week but see that it is back today. Will visit soon and catch up! ❤️
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Lol You had not lost my site…I posted after a long break. I am still not posting regularly but hope to be around more.
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Oh good! I had a few that disappeared during my last hiatus and wondered if I was kicked out for being MIA. 😉
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MIA …most of us would be kicked out then! 😂
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Not you, though! They always give the good ones leeway! 😉😁
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Nor you, my dear! The better ones are always treasured. I wait for your posts. 😀🤗
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Truly lovely my dear Irma! 😊 I feel this same lack of patience with my students as they settle in and have one thing after another to tell me or ask,though there’s also the desire to listen and to try to be patient…Oh it’s definitely a challenging feat at times when feel the pressure of time ticking.😉❤️
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Yes! I’ve taken to setting alarms and timers so as not to get into arguments about when it’s time to do something.
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I do the same a lot…It’s a great tool at times.😁
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reading this I think, if only I had written my feelings and thoughts I would have processed them better. you echo the frustrations as well as hopes of parents everywhere at whatever time in their child’s life. We are always waiting on them, for them, with them but the end of the day love is what matters most. We are guided by our instincts to nurture. Love the simplicity of your words that appreciates the beauty of growing up with baby!
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Thank you, Gina! Appreciating that beauty is a tall order sometimes! 😂
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