Max has this habit of running his toy trucks, cars and planes back and forth across the dining room table. It makes a lot of noise. It leaves pock marks in the wood. It ends up totally grating on my nerves to the point where I will finally say, not so softly, “Max!!! PLEASE, stop!”
He doesn’t, of course.
And then I feel badly that I’ve lost my patience with him.
Taking care of Max takes patience in abundance—he’s slow to do things, he needs time to adjust to new situations, he screeches when he’s frustrated. Mostly, I’m good but every once in a while, I get exasperated. And then I feel awful.
I know it’s typical for parents to feel guilty about losing their patience. But it feels worse when you’re the parent of a kid with special needs, doesn’t it?