Teaching DD to Be More Patient

It sounds like a phrase she has picked up somewhere and is having fun saying. And why not? It gets attention, right?

If "too long" is in minutes, you can try setting a timer. "You can check this timer, and you'll see the numbers go down to one. When it gets to zero, we'll hear a noise, and it'll be time to go."

If it's "too long" in days, make your daughter a little calendar so she can put a sticker on each day that passes as she counts down to the big event.

Let her know that waiting is hard for everybody, and that when she can learn to wait a little better she's on her way to being a big girl.

After that, you can proceed with, "I've already told you the answer to that question. So do not ask me again." If she's just trying to be annoying, that's a different thing from being impatient. You know what to do.

Preschoolers think patience means sitting still for a count of twenty. That's about as long as they can really wrap their minds around.

My 3 1/2 does this to me all the time. I tell her when we are leaving but I get " I want to go" I started teaching her on the clock where the little hand needs to be before we can go. She started doing ok with it but there are other things that she does not. She had a bday party last Sat and we had to go for a ide just to waste time. She wanted to go to the party so bad that it was just not sinking in. I posted a simular question a while ago cause I was hoping to get some answers on how to teach her patience. We are due with our second child at the end of this month and wanted to try to start to teach her to be patient. Especially when I am busy with the baby and can't jump to get her what she wants. Some ppl thought that I needed her to learn it in like a week. That is not what I was saying. I just wanted advice on how to get her started. Or what is the easiest way to get her to understand. I have been using a wind up alarm clock and setting the time. I tell her that when the alarm goes off, it's time to go. So far she has been patient when it comes to ger brother coming. I showed her on the calendar when he is coming. (we are scheduled for a c-section on the 30th), I cross off everyday on the calendar and then she counts how many days are left.
All in all I really don't know what to tell you since I am going through the same thing. I know how you are feeling right now. All I can say is I wish you luck!

Study time with her. For times less than one hour, you can get visual timers that show you exactly how much time is left. Or use an hourglass. Go an Amazon and search "visual timer" to see some of the options.

For a number of days, you can study a calendar. "When is Saturday?" by Deborah Kovacs and Richard Brown is a good book discussing days of the week and the passage of time. It's about Grover and calendars.

Regarding impatience in cars, I find that one major advantage of riding buses is teaching patience. My kids are well aware that they have exactly as much information and control as I do on a bus (regarding arrival time). There is no illusion that I am supermama, able to bend time and change our arrival time. So, there's no badgering. Walking has a similar effect. If the child is at least occasionally engaged in a transportation method where they are an active participant, they tend to develop a different awareness about time and transportation.

Good luck!

When my kid started doing that I sat down w/him a few times of quiet and told him being patient sometimes means not doing anything AND not saying anything. I told him it will be hard and it may not seem fair, esp after a long day at school, but sometimes he has to do things he is asked to do w/o giving his opinion.

I would always ask him to help me during waiting times by being patient, and so when the whining or complaining started, I'd just remind him he wasn't being very helpful.

I think you are on the right track with "Well, that's the way it is." 4 year olds are famous for being impatient AND having no real concept of time. If she asks over and over you might try telling her she has asked enough times, set the timer for the allotted time and tell her if she asks again you are not going. For the car...it's taking too long..."well sweetie that's how long it takes, we can go home if it's too long for you" Try it out when your destination isn't important LOL!

I like Mary L.'s answer. Also try redirecting her and giving her something to do for the shorter times to make it pass more quickly.