Respite (again)

It really is. It's respite care for shattered mums, going to Gran&Grandad's for the day.

My mum dropped me and Bear off at the supermarket a little before lunch and took Bean and the rest of our bags and bits round to Gran & Grandad's. When Bear and I had finished getting a few bits to make a cake we got home to find Bean and Grandad had made a cardboard pirate playscape complete with a tiny pirate ship! I dug out the stickers I'd bought yesterday afternoon for Bean, who until just then didn't know about them, and they were made up to be able to decorate their ship :)

SO much fun with a cardboard box. Once the pirate play had been exhausted, the cars came out and they drew a racetrack on one side of the cardboard. Then it was turned over and a drag strip drawn on, to see how far they could get the little cars to run. And the pirate island came back into play as well. Then the cardboard was put away and a storybook found, and eventually Bear came toddling over for a cuddle and fell asleep.

And then the most beautiful thing happened while he slept on the spare bed. Not only did I get chance to have a shower in peace, I also started nodding while waiting for my hair to dry and lay down on the bed next to Bear and fell asleep... and when he woke mid-nap, as he does, I was there for more cuddles and we snoozed for another hour!!!! Without Bean coming to whisper that he needed a wee, or that he was lonely, or that his program had finished, or that he couldn't fix the lego, or he was hungry - utter bliss!!

When Bear woke up the traintrack came out - and they just kept playing and playing! Funny watching Bear have his post-nap snack though. He had chorizo, plum, and cheese. And insisted that he sit on Grandad's lap, and kept offering chorizo to him. Grandad was very good and accepted at least two pieces of chorizo, and even smiled while eating it! Grandad doesn't really do chorizo ;) Bear has offered all his food around today. Only the food he likes though. The food he doesn't much like just gets left!

When Steve got in we sat down to dinner, and then there was more traintrack playing. The boys were finally starting to show signs of tiredness though, so eventually we persuaded them into pyjamas. They even helped tidy up, and had cheered up enough to say goodbye when we left! We took a long route home to my parents' house, long enough for them both to chatter and sing themselves to sleep in the back, safely wrapped up in their new favourite car blankets and with their favourite cuddly toys.

Days like these are precious. Bean's love tank is full, full from playing with Grandad for so many happy hours. My stress levels go right down, helped along by that shower and nap. I can't get over actually having a daytime nap. Bear needs some daddy-Bear playtime really, to fill his love tank up fully - he was calling for Daddy lots in the night last night, and when Daddy gets home he races to the window and yells at the top of his lungs "DADA!! DADA!!!! DADAAAA!!!!" before running to the door for a big cuddle. But the days are precious stress-free times. And I'm grateful for them. x