Today, a parenting column got me down. And then I remembered – I don’t care.
Chocolate. Mud. Snot.
Tomato sauce. Paint. Blood.
Ice-cream. Fruit juice. Urine.
On occasion, my children have been known to appear in public splattered with any, possibly all, of these substances.
In my experience, little children are grubby, dirty, messy little people.
Show me a spotless child, with tidy hair and well-pressed clothes, and I’ll show you a kid who is not having any fun.
Case in point: North West at a fashion show.
At least, that was the justification running through my head when I read this today:
That was the headline on a post on a parenting site that nosied its way into my newsfeed this morning.
Yes, I’m a masochist, so I clicked. And…
The writer, who (standard disclaimer) I’m sure is a lovely woman doing her best – aren’t we all – took a few minutes to get stuck in to those amongst us who just haven’t got it together to keep our kids nice.
Those of us who might not have a change of clothes in our bags at all times, who might actually take our eyes of our children long enough to allow them to splash or stomp or roll in something.
Top Comments
My kids have fun, get dirty & love it but my kids are also clean after the 'activity' because they want to be (it's great).
One thing my kids would never do is draw on our furniture or walls, that's not 'having fun & being messy' that's really disrespecting what we have, that's not cool!
My kids were clean, but often shoeless with dusty feet when running around our yard. The neighbours looked down on me for having "dirty kids". I was a single mother and held to impossible standards. One day, I was asked to allow my daughters (then four and five) to do a photoshoot for a special Australian anniversary publication. I was specifically told not to dress them up, but to send them in regular play clothes, etc. I dropped them off in that state at family day care in the morning. When I was shown some of the shots around lunchtime, I almost didn't recognise them. They were in new, formal clothes with beautifully styled hair, all courtesy of the family day care mum who didn't think their regular play clothes and neatly brushed hair were good enough.