Patience, or lack thereof

One of my employees really made my day today. She calls me "Boss" in an affectionate way, and for some reason that really tickles me (nobody calls me "Boss").

She knew I was having a bad day - one of many in a long line of bad days - and she made me a cup of what she calls "stress tea". I don't know what it is called, but it claims to reduce stress; it works.

She walked into my office carrying a cup of freshly brewed tea and said, "Hey Boss, drink this."

She then took a few minutes to tell me how much she appreciates my patience with her.

I almost laughed. If you know me, you know I'm not patient. Really, really not-patient. But the more she described some of her own stress and how I have been helping her deal with it I realised that I am sorta patient these days.

She comes to me 42 times each day (and I do mean each day) and has oodles of questions. They're all good, thinkish questions. Sometimes she should already know the answer, but they're still good questions. She is trying so hard and consistently exceeding my expectations; it's easy to be patient with a person who puts so much effort into her job. She admits to her own mistakes, she helps others, she does anything and everything I ask her to do. And she takes care of me when I am having a total stress-out.

Apart from all that, she's helping me grow. Her energy and style of learning is forcing me to develop that patience that I so lack. How can I not completely adore her? I'm totally giving her a raise.