Tonight with your 5 to 8 year old
The prompt
“Tell me about a time you really had to wait for something, how did you get through it?”
What to listen for
If they describe distracting themselves, thinking about something else, or just breathing through it, they're showing real self-control skills that will serve them well for life.
If they describe it as really hard and they got upset, that's honest and normal, you can gently offer a strategy together for next time, like counting or naming what they're looking forward to, so waiting feels less like an emergency.
If they say "I don't know," bring up a specific wait you both remember, like waiting for food at a restaurant.
What this tells you
How they talk about waiting shows how much patience feels manageable to them right now versus overwhelming.