In this time of Lent we are living, we hear some expressions that we rarely use as it is "expecting expectation".

I was curious and went to look for the meaning of the word expectation, so I looked for its meaning: anxiety, restlessness or other intense emotion that produces the expectation of something of interest or curiosity, especially when there are many who they wait for her.

Now I clearly understand the term, wait expectantly, because it is precisely what happens in Lent, we look forward to the great Easter holiday.

That gives us the opportunity to educate our children, because children and young people often do not know how to wait and let themselves be won by that anxiety or anguish that awaits them, for example, when they have to wait for the arrival of the little baby Jesus, when he has to wait for vacations to go on a trip, when he has to wait for dad who is absent for several days for work, etc.

Today, marketing and society stimulate our children to lose the ability to wait and demand to have everything now they want and if not, the anguish and anxiety they cannot control makes them react violently and aggressively, so here I leave my “5 Tips” to educate our children in expectant waiting.

FIRST. Explain that waiting is good.

Our young children do not know how to wait, and it is our mission to teach them and explain that the wait is good. It is necessary that our children know how to listen so that they can understand what we tell them.

There are very restless children who do not have that capacity, so it is necessary to see them in the eyes and give them the explanation. I am sure that once we understand what must happen and the steps, we are going to follow to achieve our goal, it will be easier for them to learn to wait.

SECOND. He exercises his will little by little.

With small exercises of virtue and willpower such as waiting a little to eat the candy they want or keeping silent for a minute and gradually increasing time. The idea is that our children get used to mastering their instincts and those can decide to do or not do what they want.

THIRD. Recognize your achievements. It is important that we are driving them to be better every day and the best way is to recognize their achievements. Therefore, when they can hold on a little, wait to get what they want, etc., it is important to make them see that we realized and that we are very proud of them. 

FOURTH. Give a transcendent sense to waiting. This point is very interesting since we rarely consider it and remain alone on the human level, but we can always give it a supernatural sense by offering our wait for God to give him glory and obtain greater fruits from our actions.  

FIFTH. Even if you can, do not give them everything now they ask for it. We have already said on other occasions, children must be educated with a little hunger and a little cold, which is, not giving them everything to learn to strive for what they want and to value what they achieve. 

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