I think patience is definitely a virtue. I also think that kids definitely test your patience. I laugh at some of the “how to” books on parenting. The first time you see Johnny write on the wall with a crayon, encourage him to use a piece of paper. The second time you see Johnny writing on a wall, encourage him to do some other activity. The books never talk about the tenth time! When Nick got cancer, we were under a lot of stress and patience was hard to manage by the book.
Real Life Cancer Story
I remember driving to the hospital one morning to visit Nick and Tammy after they had been there for 5 days. I was driving down a busy street when a car cut in front of me. I am not big on road rage but I remember thinking: “My son is fighting for his life and this person is probably late for work and driving like a jerk!” I really wanted to pull the person over and give them more than a piece of my mind!
I can’t think of another time in our lives when things could be more stressful. And yet most of the time, the things that stress you out the most may be little things that involve other people, and guess what? They don’t know that your kid has cancer! We are all required to be patient in our everyday life and just because something bad happens to you, it shouldn’t mean that you are entitled to lose your patience. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t feel that way, but losing your temper or hurting those around you will not make anything better.