The Patience of Mom

I have been known to:

- calmly and matter-of-factly walk from the highway to a somewhat nearby hotel at 11:30 at night to find a phone and call for help, leaving my broken down car on the side of the road. All about 2 weeks before major back surgery. (Luckily I called my parents before the cops did when they found my abandoned car).

- have the "patience of a saint". My co-workers in particular are always telling me this. My job entails a lot of detail work and the need to work with many programs at one time on a tight schedule. I can generally do this all with no problem and no major freak out sessions (unless, of course, I'm having a horrendous day of it. But even then I can pretty much manage to keep my wits about me until I leave the building).

- enjoy the highly detailed, mindful hobby of counted cross-stitch. I love following intricate patterns and creating beautiful pictures out of colorful strands of thread.

In short - I am a very patient person. Cool, calm and collected - I like to take my time, figure things out, and get things done correctly. And if mistakes happen that make me have to start over - well, then I guess I'm starting over. Nothing to whine and cry about - that only wastes more time. I just pull myself together and get back to work.

So, why is it that I absolutely cannot stand to play games with Sweetie?!

It is like torture for me to play Memory, CandyLand, Go Fish, Chutes and Ladders, etc., etc., etc..... with her. I know she's only 3 years old, but her inability to focus on the game (even though she does definitely want to play and will cry if you refuse to continue) is driving me insane. I constantly have to raise my voice to bring her back to reality and to look at the board, watch what I'm doing so she knows what she needs to do next, and go through with her turn. Even if I take my turn immediately upon completion of her last turn, she is already distracted enough to not know it's already back to her again.

I just can't cope. That's all. I hate it. And I don't use the word "hate" lightly. But, for this, it works.

I don't get it - what's the difference between my extreme patience with most other things in life and my complete and total impatience with the gaming skills of a toddler?

It makes no sense to me at all.

In the meantime, I'll pass as much as possible of the game playing time off to Daddy while I wait for Sweetie to be old enough to learn, and appreciate, the more skilled crafts of crossword puzzles and counted cross stitch.

Yeah, I know. I'll be waiting a long time. But that's okay - I'm patient.