How Do I Guide Patience and Kindness in Supermarket Queues? 

Parenting Perspective 

Waiting in a supermarket queue can test the patience of any adult, but for a child, it can feel especially boring and frustrating. Teaching your child how to wait with patience and kindness in this very common, everyday setting is a practical way to build their capacity for respect, empathy, and self-control. 

Explain the Principle of Fairness 

Help your child to understand the purpose behind the wait. You could explain, ‘Queues are the fairest way to make sure everyone gets their turn. If we were to push in front, it would not be fair to all the people who were waiting before us.’ This simple explanation helps to connect the act of waiting patiently with the value of justice. 

Provide Simple Distractions 

A child’s restlessness often comes from boredom. You can help them to pass the time by engaging them in simple, quiet activities. This could include: 

• Playing a quiet game of “I Spy” or “spot the colour.” 

• Asking them to count the items in your basket. 

• Giving them the job of helping to place items on the conveyor belt. 

Keeping their minds gently engaged makes the wait feel much shorter. 

Lead by Your Own Polite Example 

Your child will learn how to behave in a queue by watching you. Make a conscious effort to model politeness and kindness in your own actions. This includes smiling at the cashier, saying “please” and “thank you,” and perhaps even letting someone with only one or two items go ahead of you. They will absorb these small but significant gestures of courtesy. 

Equip Them with Polite Phrases 

Give your child a few simple and polite phrases they can use in these situations, such as, ‘You can go ahead of us,’ or ‘Thank you for waiting.’ Having these polite words ready makes it easier for them to act with kindness and confidence. 

Acknowledge and Praise Their Patience 

When you notice your child making an effort to wait calmly, be sure to praise them for it. A warm and specific comment like, ‘I really liked how you waited so patiently in that long queue without complaining. That showed real maturity and respect,’ helps to reinforce the value of their patience. 

By guiding them with clear explanations, engaging activities, and your own positive example, you help your child to understand that waiting in a queue is not just about standing still, but about actively practising the virtues of fairness and kindness. 

Spiritual Insight 

Islam places an immense value on the quality of patience (sabr) and on dealing with others courteously, even in the most mundane of everyday situations like waiting in a line. Teaching children to show kindness and self-control in queues is a practical way of nurturing this essential Islamic virtue from a young age. 

Allah Almighty states in the noble Quran at Surah Al Asr (103), Verses 2–3: 

‘Indeed, mankind shall surely (remain in a state of) deprivation (moral deficit), except for those people who are believers and undertake virtuous acts; and encouraging (cultivating within themselves and with one another the realisation and dissemination of) the truth and encouraging (cultivating within themselves and with one another the realisation and accomplishment of) resilience.‘ 

This powerful surah highlights patience as one of the four essential keys to avoiding loss and achieving true success, both in this life and the next. It shows that patience is not a passive act, but a vital component of a righteous life. 

It is recorded in Riyadh Al Saliheen, Hadith 646, that the holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: 

‘The strong man is not the one who can wrestle, but the strong man is the one who controls himself when angry.’ 

This hadith teaches us that true strength lies not in physical power, but in self-control. For a child, learning to wait calmly in a queue without becoming frustrated or angry is a small but powerful way of practising this form of inner strength and patience. 

When children learn to practise patience and kindness in the everyday setting of a supermarket queue, they are carrying these values into all other areas of their lives. These small but frequent lessons in self-restraint help to shape them into individuals who value fairness, respect the rights of others, and practise sabr as a daily act of faith.