Thursday, June 5, 2014

Stuff My Kids Say XII

Godzilla: "Dad told me 'boys are supposed to be dirty' and I memorized it!"

You don't get any more stereotypical than this. It would seem that I told Godzilla recently that boys get dirty. Then I left him at home with his sister and mom one hot afternoon to play with his squirt gun, and the result should have been expected.


The little scoundrel took the hose and made a mud puddle, then proceeded to slather himself in all the mud he could muster. When it was time to come in, this is the sight that greeted my wife at the front door!

What do you do with this?

Hose it off, naturally.

Of course, my amazing wife knew it was a mess and what a pain it was going to be to clean up. (She also knew how much trouble I should be in for giving him such terrible advice!) But above all else, she knew that getting mad about the mess would only crush his spirit, so she played along.

This is what childhood is about, right? Exploring your world and discovering new things. The dirt will wash off, the clothes will come clean, but the memory of coating oneself in mud will last.

Besides, I've seen grownups pay good money for a mud bath. Can anyone say Spa Day?

3 comments:

  1. I think the first (adult) reaction is to look at the mess...but then when we can see how much happiness it brings to our children then I suppose it makes all the aggro afterwards worth it!

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    1. There is something to be said to seeing the world through a child's eyes.

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  2. Heck yeah. If I ever get mad at the mess, I think back to the time my mud-caked 3 yo daughter looked me in the eye and said, "Dada, you SAID 'this is what children should look like'," She was right. I did tell her that once and I still stand by it. Relish the play. Encourage digging in.

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