Patience

DJ trying to negotiate his music practice schedule.
DJ: Mom, I would like to discuss how many times I practice music. I would like it to be 3 days a week.
Me: Would that mean you practice on the weekends at your dads?
DJ: Yes.
Me: Well, I don't have any control over that, so it is going to stay 4 days a week, during the weekdays.
DJ: What???
Me: [Gleeful... I finally get to say it!] This is just one of those childhood things that you are going to hate or not agree with, --all the music practice I make you do, but as an adult, you'll understand and maybe thank me for it.
DJ: Aww :(
Me: But I really appreciate the way you brought it forward to be discussed. :)
Then he played his sax.
That's a LOUD thing.
I like listening to him play.
For some strange reason, when I talk to DJ about his sax, the word that comes out of my mouth, before I can retract it, is parrot. Maybe they are stored close together in my brain.
It is not uncommon to hear me say to him, "Put your parrot away."

Lately, we have been doing origami every evening, after dinner. Making origami balls.
We made one of these: [click to see]
Working on this one: [a little more like a flower]
It has been a lesson in patience for both of us.
Him, because some of the folds are challenging and intricate.
Me, because I have to remind myself to not take it over from him.
It helps to remember, learning these very same origami moves as a small child from my Japanese grandfather, and how patient he was.

For fun: OrigamiBoulder.com

Read on, FAQ's and 'letters from dumb dumbs' It is rich.