A couple of weeks ago, Steve and I visited a Montessori school, where we were considering sending Camden in the fall. At some point during our tour, the owner of the school made mention that, while kids tend to be messy, they are not overly comfortable with "making a mess" anymore. We teach our children not to get their clothes dirty, or to be careful not to spill, etc. I thought about this in the context of my own family, and realized just how true his statement was. So, on a recent visit to our library, we checked out a great book entitled, Messy Activities and More, by Virginia Morin. What a wonderful little book! I decided to try it out with Camden, so I took him into the kitchen one day, and proceeded to spray a huge pile of shaving cream onto the linoleum. He looked a little horrified, especially when I told him to "have at it" and make a big ol' mess. He promptly looked worried, and said, "but I will get it on my clothes", to which I replied, "Who cares! That's what the washing machine is for!" I tell you, although my boy is a very happy little guy, I hadn't heard him laugh as hard as he did that day in quite some time, up to his elbows in shaving cream. Gosh, did we have fun. That only reinforced the fact that we need to do a whole lot more "mess-making" going forward. 
7 comments:
Good for you letting your little boy make a mess and not be worried about it!! I fear I've already wrecked my children and they wouldn't touch a pile of shaving cream in the middle of the kitchen floor for anything! Hmmm..I may have to test my theory. I'll let you know...
Hi Heather, the shaving cream is awesome! It reminds me of a similar experience. At Em's 6th grade birthday party sleepover we had frost-your-own cupcakes with lots of extras and I "sort of" started a frosting fight by pushing Em's hand into her face holding a cupcake.... all of the kids just stood there until I said "go for it" and it was utter chaos and mayhem in my kitchen for about twenty minutes but two years later, her friends always seem to bring that story up when they see me! Those are the kind of memories that seem to last forever (thank goodness!) Shaving cream is great fun in the bathtub too, granted, not quite as "naughty" but fun just the same.
I LOVE the first photo of Camden - he looks truly mischievous!!
What a great idea, too. Never be afraid to get dirty. :D Another fun thing to play with would be the spray foam soap. ;) Like the shaving cream, it would give the illusion of some down and dirty fun!
That's one thing I've had to learn marrying a farmer. The kids have their play clothes that they are allowed to do whatever in.
My sister sends her kids to a Montessori school. They LOVE it. I wish we had something like that here. Instead we just get to watch cows poop. :D
I used to be of the "no mess" clan too. Having a 2 year old made me realize there's no such thing! Kids have to be kids and have to be able to make a mess! They love it and I love watching her have fun!
Love your ideas, Heath! I have also heard how great Montesorri schools are- but I checked them out and around here they are so expensive $4000 a year and with twins..forget it. But I need to get them messy -great idea!
I learned by the time the second (and third!) child came along to just "let go" and let kids be kids! Mud washes off, sand sweeps up, and spills can be wiped up. There are many days ahead to keep the house spotless, enjoy these days with the boys and have fun!
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