Beck Vass: 'My son bit my mother-in-law on the bum'

Understandably, grandma was not impressed. Photo / Getty

Sometimes, life with toddlers becomes a fog of monotonous repetition that creeps over you so slowly, you don't realise you've stopped seeing the forest for the trees.

We had a little unexpected adventure recently which reminded me just how important it is to hop off that rat-wheel once in a while.

We were off to Gisborne to spend a weekend with my husband's family.

It was a great trip - apart from when our son, two, bit my mother-in-law on the backside.

Our boy was upset that she was holding another little girl.

It was obvious it had hurt, but after his "time out", she accepted his dramatic, frowny, low-blinking "I sowwy [sorry]... bite... bum" apology and moved on.

Earlier that day, she had watched the kids while we went for lunch.

She reported that our boy and his sister, four, had taken off their pants and bent over to show her their bare bums.

"Look at this, look at this," they'd shouted at her.

"Did you get the full show?" I asked on edge, hoping for a no. She informed me that she had indeed been given the full performance.

Recently, they have been bending over to bare their butt cheeks - an act they think the entire world finds hilarious and wants to see.

I'm sorry about them. I have no idea where this has come from. I promise they aren't repeating what they see at home. (Seriously - WTF?)!

I'm clearly doing a fantastic job of raising her grandchildren.

Thankfully, she didn't seem too bothered. At least I chose to see it that way because what else could I do?

There was a time where I would have fretted about this for weeks. This trip away really reminded me how much things have changed.

A massive slip on SH2 ended up blocking our way back home to Tauranga, which meant we had to return via Napier. This turned a four-hour trip into eight-hours, along windy roads with a toddler who gets carsick.

Our girl's car sickness used to make me so edgy. I'd be tense the entire trip. We used to drive so slowly to prevent it, it would take all day to get between Tauranga and Gisborne. So precious.

Now, apart from swatting fighting hands apart, reaching back to pick up dropped toys 450 times and listening to songs from Moana and Frozen, we drive like the kids aren't there.

I'll happily clean up car puke, I'm just happy it isn't a tummy bug I could end up catching too. How times have changed.

We decided to split the trip up and stayed in a Napier motel, which had a spa bath.

"I want to stay here forever," our girl, who usually complains about everything, announced.

The kids seemed to get on better. It was neutral territory after all.

And when they did fight, it was at least refreshing watching them fight in front of different scenery.

Sometimes, the fog clears just enough to sneak a cheeky spa bath after the kids have gone to bed.