...and we sat there for what seemed like hours.

25 or so years ago, I sat there.  I remember it vividly.  I was one of the last kids my age to be able to tie my shoes.  She sat there with me, legs spread apart, as I sat in between them, knees up to my chest, trying to tie that shoe.  It felt like eternity to me, hours really,  and I still remember it as if it were yesterday.  I did not know then, what I know now.  She did not have to do those things for me.  She did not have to sit there showing me over, and over, and over again how to tie a shoe.  It seems pretty basic now, but obviously I wear shoes everyday, so everyday I'm reminded that someone that did not have to help me, but chose to.  Oftentimes we forget.  We don't even realize every day when we wake up, get ready for work or school, make lunches, drive, things like that...the days we kind of just go through the motions, we forget.  We forget that we're actually teaching every day just as we were taught.  And that is important, and special, and may seem mundane, but one day the person you're teaching will go on to teach someone else.  And be able to do all of these things for themselves.  I had an "ah-ha!" moment the other day.  Zachary could not tie his shoe.  As I sat there with him after I made his lunch to take to school, the same way my step mother had sat there with me 25 years ago, I realized how special the every day tasks can be.  And he may never remember that moment.  But you know what?  I will.  And that's worth doing a million times over.

So, the days you lose your patience and it feels like it's taking them "forever" to "get" something?  Just remember, it probably feels even longer to them.  We didn't acquire all of our knowledge over night, and neither will they.  Patience and nurturing is one of the most important things to teach.