Sunday, January 24, 2010

marit sat here for more than 30 minutes the other day, which is a long time for a 2 yr old to do anything. when i asked her what she was doing she said: "sitting outside the door.

pig is sleeping."


of course. remember when she was having so much trouble sleeping? she is way past that for now. i never really shared about how it resolved. we prayed more for discernment-manipulation or real fear? though we were initially so frustrated that our entire afternoon naptime and evening time was spent comforting marit, eventually God gave us a sweet grace to enjoy the season. i realized, that i was putting too much pressure on myself and my two year old. sure, maybe she was manipulating us sometimes, but i would rather err on the side of grace. she is two; she does not have to be completely independent in every way just yet. it is ok if she needs me to comfort her-that is why God has given me this gift of being a mother to this sweet child. so we started leaving her door cracked just a little, we put a chair (our comfortable double papazan-so we could sit together and talk if adam was home) outside her door. we would read or talk until she fell asleep. when else would i have found time to read books? we know our dear daughter, though sweet as pie, is shot through with sin like the rest of us. BUT i would so much rather her say :"i wasn't always afraid, but my parents offered me comfort and support anyway" than "i was terrified and they abandoned me." she has moved past that phase for now and no longer needs to see us 'sit outside the door,' but she still remembers it, mentions it often and does that for her pig:).

3 comments:

Lauren said...

What a sweet post, and good reminder too. We have to stop ourselves often and ask whether or not we are expecting too much of the children for their ages. I love your heart. :)

Charlotte said...

Good reminder for me too! I feel like I don't walk the line between grace and law very well with the boys I nanny. I'm learning it's not just about giving them what they want sometimes. Pray I'll know how to train them. I need wisdom too. Thanks for the post, Ellie Mae.

Amanda said...

ELLEN!!! This is SO precious. I got a little teary-eyed. And, what a sweet reminder of how our Father gently parents us in our time of need and fear and through our sin. Thank you for blogging this.