The Mess vs. The Experience

The kids playing with the chicken

    I have been known to not let my kids do something because of the mess....but I usually regret it. After all, isn't part of being a kid about getting messy? I mean, you're a kid, you're just learning! 

The girls having some serious puddle fun last year

   Jumping into puddles, sticking faces into the ice cream bowl because they are being a dog, painting a picture (and also their arms, and face, and shirt...). How about getting dressed into 40 different costumes in one day, and leaving each costume in a different spot when finished, or jumping on the trampoline with all the cut grass they collected off the lawn? Children learn by doing, touching, tasting, smelling, hearing, and sometimes (most times!), by making a jumbo mess! 

The girls dressed as ballerinas (third costume change that day)

     I feel that giving your child the chance to be a child does 2 things: One, it fosters creativity. A child thinks, lives, and breaths creativity. They are not bogged down with "it might not work", or "it will be too hard", they just go for it! If parents (or caregivers) are forever shushing, and shutting down a child when they try to explore, that child will ultimately learn not be able to think creatively. 

     Secondly, it presents opportunities for the child to learn about cause and effect. If they destroy the house by leaving costumes everywhere (in case you haven't figured it out, this happens regularily in our house!), then let them gather those costumes back up, and put them away. That's a big job for a little kid. If they jump in puddles, but forgot to ask if it was o.k. first, and ruin their favourite pants, that's o.k. They learn that fun can be fun, but it also (often) includes some work. That is a life lesson.

Abby went out in the rain....

    As a stay at home Mom, one my "jobs" is to keep our house livable, so I can get up-tight about the mess. But what keeps me in check is knowing that when I was a child, I was forever making a crafty mess, or dressing up, or getting filthy outside, and it was wonderful! I grew up, and stopped doing those things (well, I still do them, but in a grown-up way), and my kids will stop too. I would rather them explore every inch of our property, jump in every puddle, climb every tree, and try on every costume, because sooner than I want, it will be over.   

Keziah in the tall grass

    Being a child is beautiful, and doesn't last forever, so nourish the experience, and ignore the mess!