Show a little grace

Sadie and I have been working through some regular 5 year old testing of boundaries, and I've been trying out a couple moments of "grace based parenting"  After explaining a reason why something was wrong to her and what the consequence for the action was, I told her what grace was, that instead of getting what you deserve, you are given love and forgiveness.  She saw it inaction a couple of times (and I'm sorry to say, not in others)  So she understands the concept, a little...

So later tonight, my precious Telly was stirring up her usual ruckus when it got out of hand, and she crossed the line a little bit, as I felt particularly snappy, and I asked her " What are we going to do to change this Telly???"  "It has to stop!"  Well, my mature and very earnest little five year old walked right over to me, pulled my head down to her level and whispered in my ear "  I know what you should do mommy, just show her a little grace!"

Its amazing that in the moment, all my anger dissipated and I honestly felt like God used Sadie to calm my heart.  My second born, my Telly has my personality.  She is strong in her attitude, strong in knowing what she wants, strong in her emotions, strong in her desire to be independent and strong in her own idea's.  Which in themselves seem like incredible assets.  But together they are an EXPLOSION!  You simply can not do all these things at once.  Not if you are Telly.  She is a marvel!  I know she needs me to listen and understand how she is feeling, and at the end of the day, all she wants is to be understood, and snuggled.  Sadie opened my eyes to that today!  And for a moment Telly and I forgot about the chaos, and were able to enjoy a little calm!