They would be dismayed to see how Bri has her dinner each night. It is quite normal to find her finger painting with mashed peas or putting gobs of squash in her hair. When I shared this thought, with one hand on the doorknob, as I was leaving the daycare, both of the ladies stopped what they were doing and stared at me. I could see the utter horror etched on their faces. It made me stop and think.
You see, I believe, although I've never voiced it until now, that babies learn a lot from messiness. I love watching Bri study the consistency of the food she eats. I let her explore warm, cold; smooth, mushy; and sticky or watery things all the time. She's absorbing the world. And I think it's natural to let her enjoy the messy sides of life too.
Now I don't just let her explore any old thing! Of course, I wouldn't let her play with something that would hurt her. But I figure, since I'm about to give her a bath anyway, it's okay if she grabs the spoon and flings peas into her hair. It's fun to watch her discover the way that feels. And it's okay if her clothes have a few stains on them. After all, she won't even be able to wear them anymore in a few weeks!
I've found that on the nights where I'm in a hurry and I don't want her to make a mess, we both end up unhappy and frustrated. The extra five minutes I spend cleaning up around the kitchen doesn't even compare to the fun I get from watching her squeal with laughter as she spreads cold pear mush all over her tray. What can I say? I just think it's fun!
4 comments:
I am very much a clean freak BUT I do think it is so important to let the kids make a mess with their food. It really is a part of their development.:)
Her Daddy doesn't like the messiness either! We balance it out.
Thats exactly how my husband and I are. We are the opposite of eachother so we really balance eachother out too.
It is definitely normal for development. I'm surprised the daycare ladies didn't know that because in high school "parenting" class we learned that. We had a preschool in our class. We each looked after a child for the entire class period (we were on block scheduling so the classes were 90 minutes).
It was so fun! Okay I'm just rambling, but it was definitely something I cherish from high school years. The coolest part? That was the preschool I attended as a child and here I was attending the high school while watching another future generation.
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