Give Them Grace

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I was exchanging a series of text messages with my friend who writes for Albuquerque Moms Blog.  We were talking about our husbands and how some of the decisions they make in regards to the care of our children are rather questionable.  

For instance, for some inexplicable reason, my husband can NEVER smell a poopie diaper.  Like, ever.  Or how as long as our children are in bed it really doesn’t matter that it’s 105 outside and they are wearing flannel pajamas.  The things are generally very small, but for some reason, they get under our skin!

After exchanging stories, I was reminded of some advice a Mommy & Me teacher once gave me.  She told the group I was in that –

No one will ever be as good as taking care of your children or your household as you, even your husbands.  They don’t do it as often and it doesn’t come naturally to them.  So, either give them grace to make mistakes and not do things how you would.  OR Realize that you will be doing everything with absolutely no help.

The advice was super annoying.  Why did I have to give my husband grace?  Couldn’t he just do things the way they are supposed to be done?  Like, seriously just do it right!

Then I realized I was being a pretty selfish little twerp and tried to see things from a different perspective.  Maybe grace was more needed than I thought.

I tried to remember all of the times my husband gave me grace and I have to say, I ate a small piece of humble pie.

There are many things my husband takes the lead on, and if I were to try and give it a go I’m sure I wouldn’t be doing them the exact way he would like.  For instance, I tend to have a bit of a “good enough” attitude when it comes to making the bed.  My husband, on the other hand, was taught by his mother who used to make hotel beds – she’s pretty amazing at it, which means he’s amazing at it.  And I’m just not.

My husband is also a rockstar gift wrapper.  I go for the gift bag every chance I can.  His attention to detail far outweighs mine and that is why all of our wall hangings have stayed in place AND are straight.  If it were left up to me the wall hanging would have either fallen or still be in the garage waiting to be hung up.

The list could go on and on.

The more I realized that I was also not perfect – GASP – the more I knew I needed to give my husband grace.  If I was perfect I wouldn’t need him.  And if he was perfect I wouldn’t be needed either.  

So in a way, our imperfections make our marriage even more romantic.

So, give your partner grace.  It can be hard.  But trust me, if you truly sit down and think about it, they’re most likely giving you a little grace too.