Friday, April 21, 2006

Patiences...where are mine?

This morning while getting ready for work and school, P was making his selections for a hockey pool. This hockey pool happens to be run by a friend of mine (shout out to Double D and her man Rob!) and she kindly emailed me the entry form and said that once P made his selections, I could email it back to her. So...since the pool deadline was today, I opened up the spreadsheet this morning and told P to fill in his picks on the computer, and then I would email to her once it was done.

I thought this was a simple approach to the task, but it turned out to be frustrating for both of us.

P and I have this ongoing battle when it comes to working on the computer. In some cases I know how to do more on the computer than he does. And although he makes simple requests for help, I can never just show him how to do it, I would rather grab the mouse and just do some click-it-tee-clicking and go back to whatever I was doing before he asked for the help.

This morning, he was filling out the spread sheet, and then I came and stood over his shoulder wanting to email it back to Double D when he was done. As per usual, P wants me to take the time and tell him what the email address is or where to go so that he can reply to the original email. BUT - as usual, I don't have the patiences to tell him 'click here, then click here, type in this, type in that, then click here' - he is frustrated that I won't take the time to show him how to do it, and I frustrated that he won't get the hell out the way so I can do it in a less time consuming fashion.

Oh the joy we experienced this morning at 7:30 a.m.

When I wasn't giving him the info on how to send the email (because I didn't know the exact email address off the top of my head) P jumped up out the computer chair mumbling something nasty to himself. I had the 'I'm a mean parent' feeling and took over the computer, sent the email to Double D, and then continued on with my morning.

Sitting in French today I was thinking of these battles that P and I expereince. The two of us are definitely not computer experts, but I like to think I have a few areas of expertise on the computer (...that would be the computer that I brought with me into this marriage). However, often times, its the same old story, P wants me to take 5 minutes and show him how to navigate his way on the damn thing, and I would rather take 3 minutes and just do it for him (and yes I realize, if I took the time to show him how to do it just once, then he probably wouldn't have to ask again - but let's be realistic, that would be too easy and make a far less interesting blog entry for today)!

I use to go through the same thing with my Dad when I lived at home. I would learn how to do something on the Internet, or computer, and he would ask me to show him how to do it. Sounds simple enough and I was more than happy to do, but 2 minutes into the lesson I would find myself easily frustrated with trying explain to him how to do something while watching him actually do it.

Whether its my Dad or P, or even a colleague at work, I get high blood pressure when I have to stand and watch the mouse travel around the screen well my student mentally thinks out where he/she should be clicking - this part is so frustrating because I know exactly where to click and I have the selfish feeling of 'if I were doing it, it would be done by now'.

These experiences have me realizing that I lack a lot of patiences when it comes computers and explaining how to do anything. I mean really, its not the so-called students fault that they want to learn how do something - and if I think about it, when I am taking instruction I am happy to be taught something - so why is it that I can take instruction, but can't give it?

Honestly, thank god I never tried to pursue the teaching profession as you want not me to be responsible for giving your kids an education. Come to think of it I didn't make much of a babysitter either back in the day - I guess that should have been my first clue considering the time I went to babysit with my friend Jamie and ended up having a major fight with the 7 year old kid she was looking after at the time because of my impatiences.

These thoughts are making me have some serious worries about later in life when I have kids - will this lack of patience transfer over into motherhood?

It seems that I lack a lot of patiences when it comes to work, French, and basically anything in life - where did this trait come from? Is it genetic? Years ago, were the Bellerose/Wilson ancestors known as the most impatience people on the planet? Please....tell me that I come by it honestly, or that it's just a phase -- because if not, I may seriously have to rethink the whole having children idea.

Either that or, perhaps the reason I married P was because he has a lot patiences (but the jury could still be out on that one) and so he is suppose to balance out my lack of patiences with his abudance of patience. YES - that's got to be it.

Thank god, I came up with some reasoning, or else I might have been setting myself up for some psychiatric help. Phew!

There you have it folks - it's Friday April 21st, and that's another mystery solved From the desk of Sara!