How to Fake Patience - Tip #2

Months are flying by, seasons are starting and ending, years just keep on piling up and you’re still standing in the exact same spot. Waiting.

It’s hard to stay graceful and stoic when you’re waiting for your child to come home!

That’s why I give you How to Fake Patience – Tip #2:

We all know that parenting is a demanding job. However badly you want this child to join your family, there will still be some sacrifice.

To help make the wait more bearable, try to think of a few things that you’ll have to give up when your adoption is complete. Then, plan for those things in a given time frame. For an example, you could try to do one thing per month that you know you won’t be able to enjoy as much once your kid is here. This won’t make up for not having your child with you, but it’s a bit like a consolation prize!

Having a hard time coming up with ideas? Maybe these can inspire you:

-          Have a romantic date with your sweetheart, without having to worry about what’s going on at home.

-          Stay up late on a weekend night. You could go to the late movie show and get up reeeaaallly late the next morning. And why not have coffee in bed, too?

-          Go on sports outings. If you like bicycling, go for a long, tough ride. Pick a hike that would be way too long for a toddler. Sign up for an ice-climbing class.

-          Walk around the house naked, have some fun with your partner in unconventional places, and be loud. The living room couch will forever be for watching TV once your kids are there...

-          Eat at a restaurant where kids are out of place. Eat osso bucco, spinach and risotto.

-          Plan a trip you won’t want to do with kids. Go winery hopping, take a super long road trip, backpack through Africa, go on a culture trip and visit museums until you drop.

-          Already have kids? Remember that some activities will get more expensive once your family is bigger! Why not go to the local amusement park?

-          If your kids are not going to be of the same gender, you could do something super girly with your daughter, or something boyish with your son.

-          Spend some quality one-on-one time with your kids. Take an extra half hour to rock them to sleep, play or do something crafty together.

Any more great ideas? Feel free to share in the comments!

And when you’re up cleaning stomach flu accidents at 3am on a Wednesday, you can think back to that sweet safari in South Africa you did while you were waiting!