Being Patient

One time my baby sister, Ava, started scooting on her tummy. I liked it. She was cute and my mom said she looked like me, sort of. Me and my mom tried to encourage her to start crawling. “Come on, Ava!” my mom said. “Ava, come to me!” I said. She just looked at us like “I can’t do it while you’re watching.” We just turned our backs and looked at her from the corner of our eyes. She started scooting again. Then she stopped, because she saw we were looking. It kept up for quite awhile. I had to be patient. I was so eager to get her crawling that I tried to push her along. My mom said, “Leave her alone. She’ll do it soon enough.” Sure enough, she started crawling! I learned I needed to be patient.

—Emma, at age 6