Weekend of 'us'

This weekend we have been away at my grandparents, spending time with family which we missed over Christmas. I've talked before about how my grandparents' house is such a happy place for me. Going there is like sinking into a warm bath - an 'ahhh' moment. I love that I can just be me, my children can just be themselves and we all are so well loved and looked after. And we love Nanna and Pops so much!

The last week has been testing from a behaviour point of view. Chloe has got to that awkward point where she is now pretty much better but is still acting as she was when she was ill. She is expecting lots of attention, to not have to mind her manners and to be given whatever she wants. It's been quite difficult! I sometimes feel it necessary to apologise or make excuses for her. But this weekend I increasingly have felt God reminding me that she is just a child and will act 'childishly' at points in her life, especially after a traumatic couple of weeks. 

I feel like I want to share this moment of having grace for children to be children with other parents who may have had a testing week. As I have said before, children aren't robots. Babies will have nights of being awake every few hours, toddlers will throw themselves on the floor in public, children will say 'yuck, I don't like this' at a relative's house, siblings will hit eachother, girls will fall out with school friends.  These are all completely normal behaviours. All of these will need challenging at points but some days it's ok to leave the battle for another day.

I'm feeling so much lighter this evening for having a weekend of just being 'us'. I hope I can pass a little bit of that on.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9