Persistence is such an admirable trait.

It is the drive that differentiates between a good athlete and an Olympic champion.
It’s what gets someone from fry-cook to owner of a chain.
It’s what produces great talent out of someone who isn’t a “natural” – whether it be in the arena of sports, art, music, or just simply life.

Try, try, again, and eventually, you’ll get good.

Persistence is what keeps a mom’s hair from going too gray too fast, or her face from getting too wrinkly too soon, or her mind from going bonkers before she hits 40.

Moms need persistence to deal with the never-ending cycle of “Mom can I? – no – please? – no – please? – no – pretty please? – no” or to deal with a toddler’s tornado-like ability to wreak havoc on a calm and clean household. Well, a mom doesn’t really need persistence, but if she doesn’t have it, she will be more likely to respond to such situations with yelling and pulling her hair out.

Persistence is a virtue in the adult world. I think I have a lot of persistence. I can blithely say no for the 239th time to a lollipop before dinner, and I’m pretty amused and amazed at my children’s repeated requests for something as if the world changed in the last 5 minutes making roller-blading down the park slide a safe thing to do or whatever. As long as the badgering is polite and not whiny or abusive, we can play the game all day. I will admit, though, that if all 4 kids hit me at once, I have to start doling out time in the penalty box. There is a limit to my sanity and peace of mind.

Persistence, however, in a child is not appreciated as a virtue. The child who can ask 239 times for a lollipop before dinner is usually considered annoying, not admirable. Moms don’t really want persistent juveniles, but of course would want persistent adult children. Or rather, we want our children to be persistent when learning to play a musical instrument or learning to hit a tennis ball or struggling with math or soliciting customers for their lawn mowing business. But we don’t want them to be persistent when they want to do things we don’t want them to do.

Well, a persistent kid is a persistent kid in all (or most) things. The key is to focus on the positive – think to the future! Know that their persistence really needs to be encouraged, so that it will develop into a strong and admirable adult trait.

This is a pep rally for me. All of my kids are persistent. Some more so than others. Billy is particularly persistent when he wants something. Jenny isn’t often willing to accept no for an answer.

And Pete, only 9 months old is beginning to show early signs of persistence. He knows where the toilet paper can be found and that, if he manages to get a loose end, he can unroll the whole thing. He knows where the toy room is and gets really upset if his siblings close the door to keep him out. And he knows where Katie’s Playmobile palace is and boy, oh boy, does he want to play with all those cool little pieces, especially those itty bitty flowers that roll so nicely on his tongue. And if mommy sits in front of the palace to block his access, he will crawl all over her and fight like mad to try to get around her.

Yes, persistence is the hallmark of the most successful people in the world. Persistence is good…persistence is good…persistence is good…