Today I breathe in patience and breathe out gratitude.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that I misplaced my sense of humor somewhere between scooping up pasta and vegetables from the dining room floor and dodging a blue letter D block sailing towards my head. How does this little person, who has only been circulating on this earth for 20 months, have so much precision in pushing all my patience buttons? Is it possible that we are entering the Terrible-Twos, four months ahead of schedule? Well, I did some research on this topic. I quickly referred to my baby bible, www.babycenter.com, for some advice and sure enough, my son is perfectly on target for discovering his talent to pitch, throw and toss each finely prepared meal on the floor. The Why Does My Toddler Throw His Food article kindly explains that children at this age are thrilled to have mastered this motor skill so there is no need to get upset, just clean up the mess and tell your child, “No Throwing.”

Ah great…I am left with less than sympathetic advice and a myriad of food stains on my carpet and a need to scream super loud. I consider my zero options and conclude that, while I am sure that screaming would feel really good for a moment and I can call Scott our carpet cleaner guy to remove the stains. The most reasonable action for me to take is to breathe in patience, a lot of patience, I am talking about an ocean of patience. And to breathe out gratitude. Gratitude for this opportunity to be a parent and for my yoga teacher/guru, Denise, who reminds us in class that it takes a cup of understanding, a barrel of love and an ocean of patience. I sure hope this works.