Patience

There’s nothing that requires patience quite like a kid four-years-old or under with shoelaces.

Is it only my kid who insists on wearing her running shoes everywhere for every occasion as though they were the white t-shirt or little black dress of the footwear department?

Is it only my kid who insists on wearing her running shoes with SHOELACES and bypassing, heaven forbid, the pair of running shoes that has VELCRO TABS?

Banning her from wearing shoes requiring shoelaces is not an option.  The meltdown that occurs thanks to being separated from the most beloved of running shoes actually takes longer than the internal meltdown I have when I hear her grunts, groans, and grimaces of sheer fury as she encounters the knot.

Because shoelaces are, by decree of all insanity under six years old, knotted if they are off the feet and untied if they are on the feet.

There is nothing more frustrating than a kid six years old or under with shoelaces.

I spent an afternoon this past week on my beloved college campus.  It’s the type of college campus that sets the standard for all autumnal collegiate campus scenes ever to grace a college brochure or website.  My college is quintessential.  And it’s filled with quintessentially good humored, kind, studious, respectful, vivacious college students.  No really, I promise.  My alma mater is so wholesome I wanted to weep.

I watched the unwrinkled, worry-free faces of the undergraduates milling about their fall glory grounds and thought about how much I now miss their carefree days of life.

And I thought about how worried I was 13 years ago when I was them.

How I worried about what job I would land after graduation.

How I worried about where I would live.

About who I would marry.

About what promised potential I would fill.

And it occurs to me now, thinking of my own lack of patience when it comes to dealing with the knotted shoelace issues in my life, that life, no matter what stage I’m in, really never is knot free.  My patience is always being tested, I’m always up against something I can’t control, and I often need someone older and wiser (or at least with a bit more equanimity than I have to contribute) to come along and help me loosen up the knots.

Also, I can say from experience starting at about four-years-old and up, that it really does make you feel better if you grunt, groan, and grimace when you tackle those knots.

Day 13 of 31 days.  For the month of October, I’m joining in on 31 Days of 5 Minute Free Writes.  Following the rules to write an unedited response to a prompt in 5 minutes, the insights and gratitude I gain in that short time will lift my soul skyward for the day.  Join me in reading!  Grateful for the challenge of Write 31 Days.