March 08, 2010

The Dirtier, The Better

One major difference between Dustin and me is that I’m not afraid of getting messy, and he hates messes! He literally will follow me around the kitchen cleaning up after me. If Clover drops her spill-proof cup, he whips it up, even when he’s driving. I shovel the food in Clover’s mouth as fast as she’ll eat it (because sometimes when you stop, she loses interest); he takes his time and wipes her mouth in between bites. We’re total opposites. It drives him crazy when I make a mess; it drives me crazy when he obsesses over the mess!

I think it is important for Clover to experience as many (safe) things as possible. When she discovered the toilet paper, I let her pull it all off the roll and throw it around the bathroom. I let her play with play-doh, even though half of it ends up in her mouth. I let her paint. I encourage her to feed herself, even as she excitedly throws yogurt everywhere

When Clover and I used to go to the park, I had to assist her around much of the equipment. Lately, however, she has really been all over the place when we go. She loves to climb all over the equipment, go down the slides by herself (backwards), sit down in the sand and just explore. I love it. The only downside is that she gets SO dirty. She is usually covered in dirt almost from head to toe.

Today we had a little picnic in the park in between playing. It is a gorgeous day out, and much warmer than the snowy weather we’ve been having. We both had a blast.
 
  
 
 
 
 
 

1 comment:

  1. Put a blindfold on Dustin when you come home from the park!
    Kids need to experience getting dirty! Eating bugs, making mud-pies and running until sweat drips off them, making mud from the dirt on them are all just part of growing up and learning.
    Good for you for letting her do all that stuff.
    NEVER tell her she "can't" do stuff; "can't" in the sense she's too young.
    Joy had a teacher that told us that she was "too young to be doing that kind of math, so we shouldn't teach it to her" Whatthehell kind of teacher is THAT? Fortunetately, we DID NOT listen to that teacher.
    If Clover wants to try something new....good for you for allowing her to try it!
    Way to go MOM!

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