Muffins with Mom – Perseverance: A mom’s perspective

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Has there been a time where you had to persevere through a situation? As my teen son and I were scanning through an old photo album, we came across photos of him playing little league football. There were photos of him in a huddle, running the ball and pumping his arms in victory.

Our stroll down memory lane, led to a discussion about perseverance. This reminded me of an article I wrote several years ago about perseverance. Here it is for you below.

What does it mean to persevere? Wikipedia defines it as commitment, hard work, patience, endurance. I define it as working overtime at being a parent. It means meeting challenges head on. Making sure homework is complete, the kids are in bed on time (that’s relative), and completing house work are apart of a parent’s commitment. However, I don’t remember signing an agreement or work contract to fill these obligations.

As I begin to tackle the weekly laundry, I wade through a mound of clean white socks. I find several without mates, some with holes and some so dingy that Clorox can’t save them. I persevere. One sock at a time, one task at a time, I dredge forward, determined to complete what I started.

Perseverance is getting up every morning to exercise even though the numbers on scale refuse to go down. It must be broken.

Perseverance is preparing a nice home cooked meal from scratch, only to have the kids say, “I like the Kraft (Sponge Bob) Macaroni & Cheese better.” The next time I plan a special meal, I will surely call upon Chef Boyardee, Uncle Ben, Mrs. Dash and Aunt Millie. Perhaps I can do a better job with the lunch menu.

Preparing home cooked meals is not the only area that requires perseverance as it relates to parenting. Kids experience perseverance in their own way.

During a recent track meet, my 11 year old niece experienced a lesson in perseverance. As she was near the end of her run, halfway around the track, she heard her name being called, “Alexis.” She did what all runners are told not to do during their run, look back. When she looked back it was her friend who was running the same race. “Alexis wait up,” she said.

My niece thought to herself, “Is she calling my name in the middle of a timed race?” My niece kept running, despite the minor distraction. Both girls crossed the finish line with the spirit of the tortoise in the fable, The Tortoise and the hare.

As I researched information about perseverance, I discovered some interesting facts. There are many famous people who persevered despite their handicaps and disabilities. Beethoven was deaf, Thomas Edison had a learning problem, Albert Einstein had a learning disability and Vincent Van Go was mentally ill. It seems Wikipedia is accurate, to persevere means hard work and commitment to overcome challenges.

What does perseverance mean to you?