Letting kids be kids

I'm not a big fan of playing in dirt, or puddles. But the junior members of my family LOVE IT!

Earlier this year, we replaced our lawn. Mr Sociable loved the chance to drive his trucks in the dirt.

So, when we finished the lawn, we left a special section of the garden to be his "dirt pit". It's like a sandpit, but messier. He loves to dig holes, sweep the dirt into "dust", drive his trucks over the mountains and use his tip trucks to move dirt around.

Now Mr Fun likes to play too!

Eating dirt is good for immunity, right?

Giving the muddy trucks a wash

Mr Sociable gets it excited when it rains - because he dreams of "jumping in muddy puddles" afterwards (this passion was encouraged by watching Peppa Pig).  I try to give him opportunities to do this, but it's hard, because our drainage is really good and we don't have any - we actually have to travel to find puddles!

The day I thought I would be a really cool Mum & let Mr Sociable play in an enormous puddle in the park. I didn't expect him to lie in it! He had heaps of fun - until we had to walk the 10 min trip home with a bike...

So why do I do this crazy stuff to myself? Why do I let my kids generate all this extra washing? Because I want them to be kids! I want them to have fun! I want them to remember their childhood as a time when Mum encouraged them to explore, create & be themselves - even when it made a big mess!