WFMW: Hold Your Horses

Lately my 4 year old son has been driving me crazy with being impatient. I’m desperately trying to teach him that just because he’s dressed and ready to go out the door doesn’t necessarily mean I am. And if I’m busy doing other last minute things, then he is required to wait patiently and stop yelling “hurry up!” every 2.7 seconds.

After all, everyone knows that I’m way more productive in the last five minutes before I’m supposed to leave the house than I am all day. This is when the laundry gets done, the dishwasher gets started, bills are paid, and small pearl huge diamond earrings are put on. I mean, come on! But the constant whining and yelling doesn’t help. I needed to think of some way to give Max a concrete understanding of what it means to wait on Mommy until her dust storm settles so we can make a peaceful departure out the front door.

So, this is what has worked for me…for us…for about a week now.

I told him a little about what the expression “Hold Your Horses” meant in the days when people had to travel by horseback instead of cars, just to give him a visual picture. Then I said that holding this horse would remind him that Mommy knows that he’s ready to go and that he is supposed to wait without saying “hurry up”. Balancing the book on his head was his idea of having something to do while he waited. Yep, that works too.

Now, at some point this will get old, I’m sure. But for now, it’s a great way for a preschooler to grasp this concept, which all lightheartedness aside, is a pretty important value.

For more great Works For Me tips, visit Shannon’s blog at Rocks In My Dryer

This is my 99th post so you know what’s coming next! Click here if you’d like to read my list of 100 Things!